PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ''^ 


Purchased   by  the    Hamill    Missionary   Fund. 


BV    2550    .M58    1904 

The  missionary  workshop 


The  Missionary  Workshop 


The  Missionary 
Workshop 


x^^ 


Addresses  delivered  before  the 
Eastern  Missionary  Con- 
vention  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,     October     13-15,     1903 


"  W.\  \o\  Qo x-;^<o,r\V \ oYA  CA^  0\<^ 


T-(2.S3<25 


NEW     YORK:     EATON     &     MAINS 
CINCINNATI:   JENNINGS    &    PYE 


^/ 


The  Philadelphia  Convention  Addresses  are  pub- 
lished in  a  series  of  seven  small  volumes,  of 
which  this  is  one.     The  volumes  are  entitled: 

A  CALL  TO  ADVANCE 

MISSIONS  AND  WORLD  MOVEMENTS 

THE  ASIATIC  FIELDS 

THE  AFRICAN,  EUROPEAN,  AND 
LATIN  AMERICAN  FIELDS 

GENERAL  SURVEY  AND  HOME  FIELDS 

YOUNG  PEOPLE  AND  MISSIONS 

THE  MISSIONARY  WORKSHOP 


Copyright,  1904,  by 
Eaton  &  Mains 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

The  Presiding  Elder. 

The  Missionary  Responsibility  of  the  Pre- 
siding Ehv^ 7 

Rev.  Ward  Piatt,  D.  D. 
Plans  of  Campaign. 

The  Iowa  PlanX 15 

Rev.  J.  B.  Trimble,  D.D. 

Missionary  CA\ip>m;Ns 18 

Rev.  W.  F,  Oldham,  D.D. 

The  District  Secretary. 
Need  for,  and  Work  of,  the  District  ^Iis- 

SIONARY   Se^^ETARY 21 

Rev.  C.  E.^avis,  D.D. 
Selection  and  Qualifications  of  the  Dis- 
trict MissKyf^ARY  Secretary 26 

Rev.  W.  H.  Lindemuth. 
Developing  the  District. 

Field,  Resourc;^^,  Method 32 

Rev.  J.  S.  Greenfield,  D.D. 
The  Pastor. 

The  Pivotal  Posi^ioN  of  the  Pastor 37 

Rev.  W.  F.  Anderson,  D.D. 
The  Missionary  Responsibility  of  the  Pas- 
tor    jy^: 40 

Rev.  E.  M.  Taylor,  D.D. 
The  Pastor  Spreading  Missionary  Infor- 
mation . .  .f^. 44 

Rev.  James  Mudge^  D.  D. 
Missionary  Sermon^/\ 48 

Rev.  Samuel  F.  Upham,  D.  D. 


Contents. 

PAGE 

Developing  the  Local  Church. 
The  Disciplinary  -Plan  of  Work  for  the 

Local  Chi^h 54 

Rev.  S.  O.  Benton,  D.D. 
League  Mission  Study. 
Motives  an^^TMethods  in  Mission  Study.  . .  62 
R.  E.  Uiffendorfer. 
Working  the   "Station  Plan." 

The  "Station  Plan"  in  the  New   York 

DiSTR;<?r  League 07 

W.  O.  Gantz. 
The  Sunday  School  and  Missions. 

The  Sunday  School  Mi^ionary  Society.  ..  70 

Rev.  Hedding  B.  Leech. 
Missionary      Responsibility     of      Sunday 

School  WORKERS 74 

Willis  W.  Cooper. 
Missionary  Accessories. 

Helps  for  the  SimoAY  School 79 

Miss  V.  F.  Penrose. 
The  Laymen. 

Laymen  and  ptiE  Missionary  Spirit 85 

V 
John  E.  James,  M.D. 

Importance     of    ,■  Promoting    Scriptural 

Habits  q^^Giving 87 

Lyman  L.  Pierce. 
The  Circulat^n  of  Good  Literature 93 

G.  W.  F.'^Swartzell. 

Declar'ations  of  Purpose 96 

The  Policies  Adopted 97 

6 


The 
Missionary  Workshop. 

THE  PRESIDING  ELDER. 


THE  MISSIONARY  RESPONSIBILITY  OF 
THE  PRESIDING  ELDER. 

By  REV.    WARD   PL  ATT,   D.D. 

"Like  elder,  like  district."  In  missionary 
endeavor  a  district  may  be  considered  as  a 
single  great  pastoral  charge  on  which 
there  may  be  as  many  assistant  pastors  as 
churches.  In  the  work  of  missions  the  dis- 
trict and  not  the  church  is  the  natural  unit. 
Each  church  works  out  its  part  of  the 
district  plan  emanating  from  the  presiding 
elder.  In  this  he  is  the  proper  leader.  His 
7 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

position  at  the  head  of  the  district  and  his 
intimate  relations  with  pastors  and  churches 
tend  to  turn  all  toward  him  as  the  one  about 
whom  the  district  will  rally.  He  is  also  rec- 
ognized as  the  connecting  link  between  his 
district  and  the  Missionary  Society,  he  be- 
ing in  vital  touch  with  both.  His  leadership 
does  not  rest  upon  authority,  but  upon  a  fit- 
ness born  of  a  knowledge  of  the  situation. 

By  way  of  illustration  there  is  presented 
in  outline  a  campaign  carried  out  on  the 
Buffalo  District  in  March  and  April  of 
1903.  The  campaign  consisted  of  twenty- 
four  conventions,  five  city  Epworth  League 
group  meetings,  and  a  general  exchange  of 
pulpits  throughout  the  district.  There  were 
enlisted  in  this  service  more  than  sixty 
preachers  and  laymen,  who  gave  a  total  of 
more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  addresses, 
in  addition  to  the  sermons  preached  in 
connection  with  the  missionary  pulpit  ex- 
change. The  convention  work  naturally 
8 


Thk  Presiding  Elder. 

divided  into  two  parts,  that  of  city  and  out- 
of-town,  and  in  the  latter  the  greater 
amount  of  work  was  done. 

The  aim  was  educational,  and  while  all 
culminated  on  Easter  Sunday  with  its  mis- 
sionary collections,  yet  there  was  a  looking 
beyond  this  with  a  view  to  inaugurating  sys- 
tematic instruction  in  missions  and  Chris- 
tian stewardship.  The  work  was  so  planned 
that  in  charges  outside  the  city  no  group 
meetings  were  held.  Each  charge,  with 
few  exceptions,  was  visited,  and  if  there 
were  more  than  one  appointment  a  conven- 
tion was  held,  with  one  exception,  at  each. 
In  other  words,  the  convention  went  to  the 
people. 

With  but  two  exceptions  afternoon  and 
evening  sessions  were  held  with  several 
speakers.  Four  o'clock  was  the  Sunday 
school  hour,  and  the  children  were  told  the 
importance  attaching  to  them  in  the  work 
of  world  evangelization.  More  than  one 
9 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

third  of  our  Missionary  Society's  receipts 
by  collections  came  last  year  from  the  Sun- 
day schools.  Hence  the  scholars  were  in- 
vited in  for  consultation  about  their  Easter 
and  monthly  collections.  They  were  inter- 
ested listeners,  for,  before  the  convention, 
Easter  envelopes  had  been  given  out  to  be 
returned  on  Easter  day  with  individual  of- 
ferings. The  first  hour  of  the  evening  ses- 
sion was  devoted  to  an  Epworth  League 
mass  meeting,  addressed  in  several  in- 
stances by  a  layman. 

The  work  out  of  town  was  done  by  dis- 
trict talent  with  the  exception  of  Dr.  J.  T. 
Gracey,  who  made  about  twenty  addresses 
in  fifteen  days.  No  two  of  his  discourses 
were  the  same.  Printed  questions,  each  on 
a  separate  slip,  were  distributed  among  the 
audience.  He  answered  all  with  clearness 
and  forcefulness.  His  listeners  will  never 
forget  his  remarkable  itinerary. 

The  pastors,  weeks  before  the  campaign, 

10 


The  Presiding  Elder. 

were  communicated  with  by  the  presiding 
elder.  Each  was  asked  to  carefully  prepare 
a  missionary  address.  This  was  to  be  used 
three  times  at  least;  to  his  own  people,  in 
the  missionary  pulpit  exchange,  and  at  one 
or  two  of  the  conventions.  Every  man  on 
the  district  was  utilized,  together  with  a 
number  of  laymen.  Every  detail  of  the 
convention  was  arranged,  even  to  a  notifica- 
tion by  letter  to  each  speaker  about  his  par- 
ticular train. 

The  result  was,  every  convention  was 
held  on  the  date  named,  and  the  whole  out- 
of-town  district  was  covered,  with  twenty- 
three  conventions  in  a  period  of  sixteen 
days,  including  two  Saturdays,  on  which 
days  no  meetings  were  held.  In  that  tiiiie 
more  than  one  hundred  and  thirty  addresses 
were  made,  and  every  session  was  a  success. 
The  district  was  stirred  and  the  eflfect  was 
cumulative. 

A  conspicuous  feature  was  the  exhibit  of 
II 


The;  Missionary  Workshop. 

missionary  and  Epworth  League  literature 
by  departments,  also  that  of  our  Woman's 
Missionary  Societies.  This  was  generally 
at  the  front  of  the  church  and  covered  about 
fifty  running  feet  of  table.  The  walls  were 
adorned  with  maps  and  appropriate  pla- 
cards. The  exhibits  in  most  features  were 
duplicated  for  simultaneous  conventions. 
This  formed  a  text  for  one  of  the  addresses. 
Two  competent  persons  traveled  with  each 
exhibit.  The  late  night  packing  and  early 
morning  trains  in  order  to  have  all  in  readi- 
ness at  the  next  place  were  a  severe  tax  on 
those  in  charge,  but  they  never  failed  to  be 
equal  to  these  exacting  demands.  While  no 
one  connected  with  the  campaign  had  any 
financial  interest  in  the  orders  taken,  yet 
quite  an  amount  of  missionary  and  League 
literature  was  sold.  Maps  were  left  on  the 
walls  of  churches  to  remind  and  instruct. 

Looking  back  over  the  whole  campaign, 
with  its  rapidly  shifting  scenes,  its  many 

12 


Trir;  Presiding  Ei.dkr. 

audiences,  portions  of  whom  came  over 
roads  well-nigh  impassable,  their  reverent 
attentiveness  throughout  long  sessions, 
their  expressed  interest,  their  lavish  hos- 
pitality, one  can  but  have  a  new  and  larger 
faith  in  the  people,  together  with  a  deep- 
ened conviction  that  the  word  of  the  Lord 
shall  not  return  unto  him  void. 

The  people  will  amply  support  our  mis- 
sionary and  benevolent  causes  when  once 
they  are  put  in  possession  of  the  facts. 

In  the  discharge  of  his  missionary  re- 
sponsibility the  presiding  elder  should  visit 
the  Sunday  schools  and  Young  People's  So- 
cieties as  regularly  as  he  does  the  churches 
of  his  district.  He  must  seek  to  be  an  up- 
to-date  encyclopedia  of  plans  and  mission- 
ary methods  applicable  to  the  several 
schools  and  Leagues.  Should  not  a  dis- 
trict feel  that  for  information  or  initiative 
in  the  matter  of  missions  there  is  no  need 
to  look  beyond  its  presiding  elder? 
13 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

A  presiding  elder  may  stimulate  his  dis- 
trict to  splendid  endeavor  by  a  great  mis- 
sionary convention  such  as  we  have  planned 
at  Buffalo  for  the  Genesee  Conference  as  a 
constituency. 

A  presiding  elder's  district  is  more  pli- 
able than  the  average  individual  church ; 
hence  the  elder  whose  plans  are  clear-cut, 
if  energetically  applied,  may  mold  his  dis- 
trict almost  at  will  into  a  compact  and  well- 
drilled  corps,  fit  to  take  its  place  in  the  right 
wing  of  God's  line  of  battle. 
14 


PLANS  OF  CAMPAIGN. 


THE  IOWA  PLAN. 

By  REV.  J.   B.   TRIMBLE,   D.D. 

In  the  working  of  the  Iowa  Plan  of  mis- 
sionary campaign  we  are  not  a  unit  as  to 
the  time  we  spend.  In  some  regions  a  week 
is  set  apart,  charges  are  grouped,  and  the 
whole  district  is  covered  in  six  or  seven 
days ;  in  others — forming  the  rule,  not  the 
exception — a  whole  month  is  given  to  a 
missionary  campaign  in  which  the  district 
is  subdivided. 

Now,  the  first  method  has  some  things  in 
its  favor:  it  does  not  consume  as  much 
time,  and  all  parts  of  the  district  are  mov- 
ing in  unison ;  but  after  years  of  experience 
as  a  presiding  elder,  and  some  considerable 
time  on  a  charge,  I  express  myself  unquali- 
15 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

fiedly  in  favor  of  the  latter  method.  The 
one-week  plan  prohibits  the  presiding  elder 
from  using  the  district  missionary  secre- 
tary and  other  missionary  leaders  on  more 
than  a  few  charges,  and  prevents  the 
presiding  elder  himself  from  visiting  any 
but  a  few  charges,  when  his  presence  ought 
to  be  felt  and  his  views  heard  in  every 
charge  on  his  district. 

We  have  found  a  district  organization 
necessar}^  in  Iowa.  I  think  in  all  the  Annual 
Conferences  of  the  State  we  have  District 
Conferences.  In  our  first  session  the  whole 
district  goes  behind  the  missionary  cam- 
paign plan  and  the  missionary  commis- 
sion is  appointed,  consisting  of  the  presiding 
elder,  district  missionary  secretary,  and,  if 
the  district  be  divided  into  subdistricts,  one 
from  each,  elected  by  popular  vote.  We 
determine  on  having  a  district  campaign 
and  pass  it  over  to  that  committee  of  about 
seven  to  make  the  arrangements.  The  com- 
i6 


Plans  of  Campaign. 

mittee  has  an  early  meeting,  outlines  the 
plan,  formulates  a  program,  and  then  passes 
that  over  to  the  chairman  of  each  subdis- 
trict,  who  calls  the  pastors  of  the  subdis- 
tricts  together.  They  go  over  the  program, 
make  assignments,  and  make  arrangements 
for  their  particular  field,  and  pass  it  over 
to  a  select  committee,  who  go  over  it 
again,  so  that  every  pastor  in  the  dis- 
trict has  something  to  do  with  the  mission- 
ary campaign. 

I  know  of  no  better  primary  method  than 
that  suggested  by  the  Discipline  of  our 
Church  and  this  missionary  campaign 
method.  Northwest  Iowa  Conference  in 
1887  indorsed  it.  The  Conference  was  then 
contributing  $3,681,  and  is  now  giving  more 
than  $22,000.  The  State  of  Iowa  ranks  high 
in  missionary  help,  and  does  not  rank  so 
high  in  wealth.  Other  Conferences  in  that 
great  middle  West,  just  as  wealthy,  do  not 
give  one  half  as  much.  It  comes  from  the 
2  17 


Tiuv  Missionary  Workshop. 

method  adopted  and  successfully  used  from 
year  to  year  in  campaigns. 


MISSIONARY  CAMPAIGNS. 

By  REV.  W.  F.  OLDHAM,  D.D. 

There  can  never  be  any  single  plan  that 
will  work  in  all  our  borders.  It  must  be  a 
method  of  campaigning  which  will  convey 
to  every  church  the  accumulated  wisdom  of 
the  district,  the  accumulated  knowledge  of 
the  district,  and  the  accumulated,  if  I  might 
put  it  so,  concession  of  the  district  in  re- 
gard to  this  matter. 

In  the  best  method  of  campaign  the 
strength  of  the  district  is  available  for  the 
missionary  development  of  the  individual 
church,  as  they  always  put  a  sprinkling  of 
the  strongest  men  in  each  subdistrict  and 
they  then  send  these  men  around.  Accord- 
ing to  such  a  plan,  every  pastor  has  to 
write  a  new  missionary  sermon  every  year. 
i8 


Plans  of*  Campaign. 

Whether  he  moved  last  year  or  not,  he  must 
write  a  new  sermon,  because  he  will  preach 
his  sermon  in  the  presence  of  the  same  pas- 
tors, and  you  know  if  ever  a  brother  is  upon 
a  keen  edge  it  is  when  he  is  before  his  own 
district  brethren.  This  insures  that  the  in- 
dividual pastor  through  the  district  will 
ascertain  the  current  facts,  and  that  he  will 
stand  prepared  before  his  fellow-pastors  to 
make  an  adequate  presentation  of  the  claims 
of  the  missionary  cause. 

Give  me  the  Sunday  school  superin- 
tendent, give  me  the  leader  in  the  official 
board,  give  me  the  chief  directing  officer 
in  the  financial  board,  a  little  sprinkling  of 
the  Epworth  Leaguers — give  me  a  handful 
like  that  at  a  missionary  rally,  with  three  or 
four  IMethodist  preachers,  and  let  them  get 
agoing,  and  I  don't  care  whether  the  rest 
of  your  church  turns  out  or  not,  presently 
from  man  to  man  the  movement  will  go ;  it 
is  not  those  vAio  are  absent  from  the  gath- 
19 


Thf,  Missionary  WoRKSiior. 

cring  that  I  care  especially  about,  it  is  the 
little  handful  that  are  present  and  the  ef- 
fect upon  them.  If  you  produce  the  right 
effect  upon  them  they  will  communicate  it. 
As  the  presiding  elder  goes,  so  the  dis- 
trict goes — I  can  prove  that  by  a  hundred 
statements  of  positive  facts.  Get  a  strong 
presiding  elder  with  a  method  of  campaign, 
with  a  determination  to  put  intelligence  and 
added  conscience  into  his  district,  and  he 
will  work  out  the  method.  Somehow  or 
other  he  will  accomplish  these  two  things : 
a  deeper  knowing,  a  deeper  feeling  of  obli- 
gation ;  and  will  lead  his  district  to  contin- 
ual and  increasing  victory. 
20 


THE  DISTRICT  SECRETARY. 


NEED   FOR,  AND  WORK   OF    THE  DIS- 
TRICT MISSIONARY  SECRETARY. 

By  REV.  C.  E.  DAVIS,  D.D. 

Is  the  district  missionary  secretary  a 
necessity?  The  general  missionary  secre- 
tary has  his  well-known  duties  to  perform. 
The  field  missionary  secretary  is  a  St. 
Paul  burning  his  Way  over  his  large  dis- 
trict, arousing  the  Church  to  enthusiastic 
action.  The  district  missionary  secretary 
has  the  all-important  work  of  following  up 
the  general  and  field  secretaries  and  plan- 
ning and  working  business  details.  Twenty- 
five  per  cent  of  our  membership  gives 
ninety-five  per  cent  of  our  missionary 
money  to-day.  The  district  secretary  has 
a  big  job  on  hand  if  he  proposes  to  get  after 

21 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

that  seventy-five  per  cent  who  do  nothing, 
practically,  for  missions.  He  can  do  it ;  he 
must  do  it.  If  he  is  the  right  man  in  the 
right  place,  he  will  do  it ;  and  he  will  do  it 
through  his  ministerial  brethren. 

The  population  of  the  earth  in  round 
numbers  is  fifteen  hundred  millions.  Over 
two  thirds  of  that  number — some  say  more, 
some  less — are  heathen.  The  mortality  of 
the  race  is  such  that  the  average  length  of 
life  is  about  thirty -three  years.  The  deaths 
in  thirty-three  years  must,  therefore,  equal 
the  present  population  of  the  earth.  Some 
will  live  more  than  thirty-three  years ; 
others  will  be  born  who  will  live  less  than 
thirty-three  years ;  average,  thirty-three 
years.  Fifteen  hundred  millions  dying  in 
thirty-three  years  makes  a  death  rate  of 
three  for  every  two  seconds  of  time.  Two 
thirds  are  heathen ;  hence  the  heathen  are 
dying  at  the  rate  of  one  a  second.  Let  the 
district  secretary  thrill  his  brethren  with 

22 


The;  District  Secretary. 

this  terrible  fact,  so  that  they  will  thrill  the 
Church  and  the  attention  of  the  Church  be 
aroused. 

Ministers  must  see  and  make  everyone 
else  see  that  Western  civilization  is  Chris- 
tian civilization,  and  must  fill  the  earth.  It 
is  our  duty  as  ministers  to  saturate  our- 
selves with  information  which  reveals  this 
truth  in  its  broadest  sense.  The  district 
secretary  has  a  most  important  work  to  do 
right  here  at  this  point.  To  his  very  best 
ability  he  must  lead  his  brethren,  if  need 
be,  to  see  sharply  the  differences  existing 
between  Christian  civilization  and  all  other 
civilization  of  all  time,  and  then  make  his 
people  see  those  vital  differences.  I  be- 
lieve that  this  one  point,  if  fully  presented 
by  the  ministry  of  our  Church,  will  rouse 
the  Methodist  Church  to  giving  as  it  has 
never  yet  been  roused. 

Every  district  missionary  secretary  must 
be  the  architect  of  his  own  plans.  I  will 
23 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

suggest  one  very  simple  plan  of  raising 
money  which  stimulates  the  givers  (and 
some  nongivers)  to  intelligent  study  of  the 
great  problem  before  us.  First,  get  the 
people  roused  as  much  as  you  can.  You  or 
possibly  the  field  secretary  may  help  the 
pastor  to  do  this,  if  he  wants  any  aid.  Get 
him  to  do  it  if  he  can.  He  is  the  best  man 
on  the  field  to  do  it,  yet  if  he  wants  the 
field  secretary  or  you,  go  if  you  can.  Then, 
when  the  interest  is  aroused,  throw  in  a 
few  telling  facts,  and  ask  everybody  to 
give  at  least  a  cent  a  day  for  carrying  the 
knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  to  the  vast  horde 
of  heathen  who  as  yet  do  not  know  of  his 
existence.  A  cent  a  day!  Pretty  small? 
Yes.  Tobacco  users  spend  many  times  this 
sum  every  day.  The  moderate  drinker 
averages  far  above  this.  Most  of  our  young 
people  spend  far  more  than  this  at  the  soda 
fountains,  candy  stores,  and  on  the  elec- 
tric cars.  Let  us  stick  for  a  cent  a  day,  and 
24 


Thi5  District  Seckdtaky. 

keep  holding  that  up  before  the  people,  urg- 
ing those  who  can  to  give  the  nickel  a  day, 
or  dime,  or  quarter,  or  half  dollar  or  more 
a  day.  Then  show  them  that  this  insignifi- 
cant gift  will  furnish  us  with  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars  a  day,  or  ten  millions  a  year, 
if  we  have  three  millions  of  Methodists 
willing  to  give  a  cent  a  day.  It  is  a 
good  plan.  I  have  found  that  it  works 
splendidly  on  different  kinds  of  charges. 
Why  not  on  districts  ?  In  one  charge  where 
I  was  we  were  under  considerable  embar- 
rassment, yet  with  a  cent-a-day  plan  we 
more  than  doubled  the  missionary  collec- 
tion, and  nobody  growled,  excepting  non- 
givers,  that  we  were  sending  too  much 
money  away  from  the  Church.  But  it  is  a 
plan  that  must  be  pushed  all  the  time.  It 
never  pushes  itself.  No  plan  will.  At  first 
it  will  not  succeed  as  well  as  we  think,  but 
keep  it  up.  It  is  a  winner.  I  have  found 
in  my  own  experience  that  neat  subscrip- 
25 


Thf,  Missionary  Workshop. 

tion  cards  and  collection  envelopes,  backed 
by  good-natured  and  optimistic  pusbing, 
will  make  it  win  everywbere.  I  do  not  say 
it  is  tbe  best  plan.    It  is  a  plan. 

The  tremendous  responsibility  of  rousing 
a  sleeping  people  to  the  needs  of  Christian 
missions  falls  with  immense  weight  on 
presiding  elders  and  district  secretaries. 
We  can  carry  it,  and  as  we  carry  it  we  are 
going  to  win. 


SELECTION  AND  QUALIFICATIONS  OF 

THE  DISTRICT  MISSIONARY 

SECRETARY. 

By  REV.  W.  H.  LINDEMUTH. 

In  the  selection  of  district  missionary 
secretaries  it  would  be  wise  to  magnify  the 
importance  of  the  office  by  summoning  the 
appointees  to  a  conference  with  the  bishop 
and  his  cabinet,  when  the  new  secretaries 
might  be  impressed  with  the  largeness  of 
their  opportunity.  Then  it  will  be  known 
26 


The;  District  Secretary. 

whether  or  not  a  pastor  is  willing  to  assume 
such  arduous  labors  in  connection  with  his 
regular  work.  This  method  of  procedure 
will  invariably  secure  the  best  men  for  the 
place. 

No  office  within  the  gift  of  the  Confer- 
ence requires  a  wider  range  of  qualifica- 
tions. First,  the  district  missionary  secre- 
tary must  be  profoundly  interested  in 
world-wide  evangelism.  He  must  have  the 
larger  vision  of  the  Master  which  takes  in 
the  pygmy  of  Africa  and  the  cultured 
American.  Without  this  deepening  and  ab- 
sorbing personal  interest  in  the  success  of 
missions,  no  secretary  can  create  in  the. 
people  a  strong  and  abiding  conviction  of 
the  necessity  and  propriety  of  foreign 
evangelism. 

Second,  the  district  missionary  secretary 

must  have  a  full  head  as  well  as  a  warm 

heart.     He   must  be   generally   intelligent 

upon  the  facts  and  science  of  missions.  We 

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The  Missionary  Workshop. 

are  compelled  to  believe  that  many  pastors 
are  too  poorly  equipped  to  deal  with  and  de- 
fend the  missionary  problem.  And  this  is 
not  true  merely  of  the  country  pastor.  A 
few  sermons  and  addresses,  musty  with  age, 
filled  with  antiquated  facts  and  figures,  will 
never  create  in  the  people  such  a  missionary 
ardor  and  enthusiasm  as  the  present  emer- 
gency requires.  The  people  want  facts  con- 
cerning our  success  and  opportunities ;  the 
cause  of  missions  frequently  needs  a  de- 
fense against  the  attacks  of  the  indifferent 
and  unbelieving.  Missionary  enthusiasts 
are  made  by  informing  the  head  as  well  as 
by  warming  the  heart.  Let  our  people 
know  something  about  the  geography  of 
missions,  the  vastness  and  variety  of  hea- 
then territory ;  the  history  of  missions,  the 
successes  of  the  past,  the  difficulties  sur- 
mounted, and  the  present  situation ;  the 
arithmetic  of  missions,  the  density  of  the 
population  of  heathendom,  the  problem  of 
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The  District  Secretary. 

reaching  a  thousand  milHon  of  people  with 
ten  thousand  workers,  the  money  problem; 
the  grammar  of  missions,  the  divine  im- 
perative mode,  "Go  ye."  Give  the  people 
a  glimpse  of  world-wide  missions,  a  rich 
and  continuous  supply  of  facts,  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  work  of  our  missionary  organi- 
zations, the  story  of  missionary  heroism, 
and  when  the  appeal  is  made  to  the  heart 
for  Christ's  sake  there  will  be  an  intelligent, 
liberal,  and  prayerful  cooperation. 

Third,  the  district  missionary  secretary 
should  be  a  forceful  speaker  and  a  man  of 
good  executive  ability. 

The  district  missionary  secretaries  of  a 
Conference  should  heartily  cooperate.  They 
should  form  themselves  with  the  presiding 
elders  into  a  permanent  missionary  cabinet, 
and  together  consider  all  the  needs  of  the 
various  districts. 

The  district  missionary  secretary  should 
keep  in  touch  with  the  pastors  in  each 
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charge,  remembering  that  the  pastor  is  the 
key  man.  Inspire  each  pastor  to  missionary 
leadership  in  his  local  church.  Convert  him 
to  the  cause  of  missions  if  he  is  indifferent. 
Be  bold  to  suggest  that  he  should  subscribe 
for  some  current  periodical  literature,  such 
as  the  Missionary  Review  of  the  World, 
and  that  he  should  diligently  study  Dr. 
Dennis's.  Christian  Missions  and  Social 
Progress,  Dr.  D.  L.  Leonard's  One  Hun- 
dred Years  of  Missions,  and  Dr.  A.  T. 
Pierson's  Modern  Missionary  Century,  and 
the  works  of  such  writers  as  Speer,  Mott, 
Warneck,  Baldwin,  and  Reid.  When  the 
pastor  is  intelligently  prepared  for  work  in 
the  home  church,  he  will  be  available  for 
work  on  the  district. 

Talk  face  to  face  with  groups  of  pastors 
whenever  possible.  Introduce  the  mission- 
ary work  of  the  Conference  before  the  min- 
isters' Monday  meeting.  Make  a  request  of 
the  program  committee  for  permission  to 
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The  District  Secretary. 

have  a  missionary  Monday  now  and  then. 
Let  the  secretaries  suggest  the  program. 

Form  a  bureau  of  missionary  speakers, 
selecting  the  pastors  who  are  able  and  will- 
ing to  render  service  in  addressing  Sunday 
schools  and  church  meetings,  camp  meet- 
ings, and  conventions. 

Secure  the  cooperation  of  pastors  by  ar- 
ranging an  exchange  of  pulpits,  when  each 
speaker  is  to  represent  to  another  congre- 
gation the  red-hot  facts  of  missionary  work. 
This  has  the  immense  advantage  of  the 
force  of  a  new  voice,  and  a  new  person. 
Such  interchange  of  pulpits  can  best  be  ac- 
complished by  forming  groups  of  contigu- 
ous churches.  Place  a  live  missionary  pas- 
tor at  each  group. 

Request  the  presiding  elder  to  preach 
missions  around  the  district.  A  strong 
missionary  sermon  by  the  executive  of 
the  district  would  open  the  way  for  the 
secretary's  appeal. 

31 


DEVELOPING  THE  DISTRICT. 


FIELD,  RESOURCES,  METHOD. 

By  REV.  J.  S.  GREENFIELD,  D.D. 

Assuming  that  the  district  missionary 
secretary  has  the  first  and  most  essential 
quahfication,  in  his  own  character  and 
spirit,  his  work  then  becomes  twofold : 
first,  to  make  a  thorough  study  of  his 
field ;  second,  to  make  a  thorough  study  of 
his  resources,  that  these  may  be  made  to  fit 
the  one  into  the  other.  Studying  his  field 
will  mean  coming  to  a  knowledge  of  the 
churches  and  of  the  pastors.  This  is  neces- 
sary, for  only  by  gaining  this  knowledge  will 
he  know  what  to  do  in  each  particular  place. 

Then  he  will  study  his  resources.     The 

resources  are   local   and  they  are  general. 

The  local  resources  are  the  churches,  the 

pastors,  the  Sunday  schools,  and  the  Ep- 

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DKViaopiNC  TiTK  District. 

worth  Leagues,  and  while  it  does  not  come 
technically  within  his  field  of  duty  to  use 
them,  I  do  not  see  why  he  should  not  call 
into  service  the  Woman's  Foreign  and  the 
Woman's  Home  Missionary  Societies,  those 
efficient  auxiliaries  of  our  Church.  Be- 
yond the  local  resources  there  are  the  gen- 
eral resources — the  general  secretaries,  the 
field  secretaries,  then  men  and  women  in 
the  home  church  who  have  a  reputation  for 
their  interest  in  missions  and  the  men,  and 
women,  too,  who  have  been  in  the  foreign 
field,  who  can  relate  achievements  in  mission- 
ary enterprise  that  may  thrill  any  audience. 
The  secretary,  having  studied  his  field 
and  having  studied  his  resources,  is  ready 
to  plan  his  campaign.  This  may  take  one  of 
three  forms :  First,  he  may  plan  for  a  dis- 
trict missionary  convention,  or,  second,  for 
subdistrict  group  meetings ;  but,  owing  to 
the  present  small  degree  of  missionary  in- 
terest in  the  Giurch,  a  large  attendance  at 
3  33 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

a  district  missionary  convention  or  at  group 
meetings  is  usually  impracticable.  This 
difificulty,  however,  may  be  overcome  in  part 
by  the  district  secretary  prevailing  upon  the 
committee  having  in  charge  the  annual 
camp  meeting,  where  such  a  gathering  is 
held,  to  set  apart  one  day  as  "Missionary 
Day,"  and  then  securing  the  services  of 
some  strong  representative  of  our  mission- 
ary work  as  speaker. 

But  the  form  of  campaign  that  I  think 
promises  to  solve  most  effectually  what  is 
called  the  missionary  problem  of  our  day  is 
that  which  provides  for  the  division  of  the 
district  into  subdistricts  with  a  subdistrict 
chairman,  and  that  provides  for  a  mission- 
ary rally  in  each  church  on  the  subdistrict. 
Supposing  that  in  each  subdistrict  you  have 
eight  churches.  A  meeting  is  held  in  each 
church,  consisting  of  an  afternoon  and  an 
evening  session,  sometimes  with  a  mission- 
ary tea  in  the  evening  bringing  together  in 
34 


Dicve:i,oping  the;  District. 

a  social  way  the  people  of  the  local  churches 
and  the  eight  pastors  of  the  subdistrict. 
The  program  is  furnished  by  the  eight  pas- 
tors, providing  for  eight  addresses,  and  a 
program  long  enough  to  give  a  comprehen- 
sive presentation  of  the  missionary  interests 
of  our  Church.  The  program  is  arranged 
by  the  district  missionary  secretary  for  each 
of  the  subdistricts.  He  has  studied  his  men 
and  he  has  studied  his  churches.  He 
knows  what  theme  each  minister  is  best 
qualified  to  write  upon,  and  he  selects  that 
theme  for  him.  Sometimes  it  is  a  theme 
altogether  foreign  to  the  general  reading  of 
the  man  who  has  to  prepare  the  address.  So 
much  the  better.  But  there  are  eight  pas- 
tors in  that  subdistrict  preparing  eight  ad- 
dresses having  a  missionary  theme  in  mind 
at  least  two  months  before  they  are  to  give 
the  address.  They  are  bound  to  get  inter- 
ested in  eight  different  phases  of  mission- 
ary work.  When  they  come  to  the  special 
35 


Tiiu  Missionary  WoRKSiior. 

preparation  of  the  address  they  are  bound 
to  do  some  supplementary  missionary  read- 
ing. As  the  campaign  progresses  through 
the  eight  churches  each  man  will  deliver  his 
own  address  eight  times,  which  will  inevi- 
tably fix  it  in  his  own  mind,  and  he  will  lis- 
ten to  seven  other  addresses  eight  times 
also,  and  if  nothing  else  is  achieved  by 
faithfully  prosecuting  this  campaign  you 
have  the  preachers  on  the  whole  district 
very  familiar  with  eight  phases  of  our  great 
missionary  work.  If  nothing  else  is  accom- 
plished than  that  it  is  worth  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  whole  campaign. 

Then,  again,  you  bring  the  eight  preach- 
ers into  close  contact  with  the  people  at 
each  place  for  a  whole  day.  Eight  men 
heartily  interested  in  missionary  work, 
moving  among  the  members  of  a  church  for 
a  whole  day,  cannot  help  but  arouse  some 
missionary  enthusiasm  apart  from  the  ad- 
dresses they  give. 

36 


THE  PASTOR. 


THE  PIVOTAL  POSITION  OF  THE 
PASTOR. 

By  REV.   W.    F.   ANDERSON,   D.D. 

Tilt  pastor  is  the  pivotal  man.  Pie  is  so 
because  he  forms  the  point  of  contact  be- 
tween the  unchristian  world,  with  its  needs, 
and  the  resources  of  the  Church  of  the  liv- 
ing God.  It  is  his  to  lay  bare  to  the  minds 
of  the  people  the  awful  needs  of  the  un- 
saved world,  and  then  his,  by  persuasion, 
help,  and  by  the  presence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  to  bring  the  grace  and  the  love  and 
the  sympathy  of  the  children  of  God  to  the 
needs  of  the  unsaved  world. 

There  are  two  or  three  things  that  are 
very  essential.  Our  Lord's  dream  of  uni- 
versal conquest  must  be  accepted  as  prac- 
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The  Missionary  Workshop. 

ticable.  How  long  was  it  ridiculed  as  a 
mere  fanciful  dream,  how  long  were  men 
skeptical  as  to  the  possibility  of  its  realiza- 
tion !  It  remained  for  the  nations,  the  so- 
called  secular  nations,  of  the  earth  to  dissi- 
pate all  our  doubts  and  to  tell  us  that  our 
Lord's  dream  of  universal  conquest  is  a 
practicable  thing  for  this  world.  When  the 
representatives  of  the  various  nations  were 
gathered  yonder,  at  the  Peace  Conference 
at  The  Hague,  men  stopped  their  ridiculing 
and  began  to  see  that  this  was  more  than  a 
dream  or  personal  ideal  in  the  mind  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

But  if  it  is  essential  that  this  ideal  is  to 
be  accepted  by  the  Church  of  the  living 
God,  who  is  to  be  the  human  instrumental- 
ity in  bringing  about  this  consummation? 
The  pastor.  Not  only  is  it  necessary  that 
men  should  be  induced  to  accept  this  ideal 
as  a  practicable  thing,  they  must  also  be 
brought  into  vital  svmpathy  in  the  execu- 


The  Pastor. 

tion  of  this  great  enterprise  born  of  the  pur- 
pose of  Ahnighty  God ;  and  he  who  propa- 
gates this  Gospel  is  the  same  as  he  who  by 
his  persuasiveness  must  lead  his  people  into 
that  depth  of  the  Christ-life  where  they 
shall  agonize  for  the  world's  redemption 
even  as  did  he. 

Having  entered  into  sympathy  with  this 
great  purpose  of  our  Lord,  it  is  essential 
that  the  people  shall  be  induced  to  bring  of 
their  means  in  such  abundance  that  the 
practical  realization  of  this  scheme  shall  be 
brought  to  pass.  What  a  problem  we  have 
on  hand !  I  have  asked  myself,  I  think,  a 
hundred  times,  how,  in  the  name  of  God, 
I  am  going  to  get  a  man  who  has  an  abun- 
dance of  wealth  to  see  that  his  business  in 
this  vv^orld  is  to  devote  that  wealth  to  the 
advancement  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 
How  are  w^e  going  to  induce  men  to  live 
less  luxuriously  in  order  that  they  may  give 
more  generously  to  the  propagation  of  the 
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The;  Missionary  Workshop. 

greatest  thought  that  ever  entered  into  the 
mind  of  Ahnighty  God  himself?  Only  as 
the  Holy  Spirit  helps  us  shall  we  he  able 
so  to  do.  This  is  unquestionably  the  prob- 
lem that  is  upon  us  now. 

Conceive  what  would  happen  if  every 
pastor  of  our  fifteen  thousand  pastors  was 
aflame  with  zeal  for  the  missionary  cause 
and  was  the  leader  of  his  people,  in  the  true 
sense  of  the  word,  to  the  highest  possible 
achievement  for  God. 


THE  MISSIONARY    RESPONSIBILITY  OF 
THE  PASTOR. 

By  REV.   E.    M.   TAYLOR,   D.D. 

There  are  two  fundamental  principles  or 
convictions  that  must  take  hold  of  the  min- 
ister of  Jesus  Christ  before  he  can  in  any 
way  do  effective  work  for  his  King.  First, 
he-  must  belieye  that  Almighty  God  has  a 
40 


The;  Pastor. 

plan  and  a  purpose  in  the  creation  of  hu- 
manity, and  that  it  is  his  purpose  to  bring 
this  human  Hfe  into  fellowship  with  his 
knowledge,  his  holiness,  and  his  love.  The 
second  great  conviction  is  that  it  is  the  pur- 
pose of  Almighty  God  to  use  this  old  Gos- 
pel as  the  method  and  means  of  bringing  his 
colossal  design  into  realization.  These  two 
principles,  firmly  fixed  in  our  hearts,  give  us 
the  basis  on  which  we  are  to  stand  and 
work  in  relation  to  the  great  cause  of  for- 
eign missions. 

To  put  it  in  a  way  that  we  may  under- 
stand it,  perhaps,  as  it  touches  our  lives, 
the  command  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was 
the  last  will  and  testament  of  the  Master  to 
the  first  missionaries  who  undertook  to 
preach  in  his  name.  You  and  I  are  execu- 
tors of  that  will  and  testament  to-day.  The 
sacred  trust  is  committed  to  us  by  Jesus 
Christ  to  see  that  the  purpose  and  plan  of 
that  will  is  put  into  execution  in  this  world. 
41 


The;  Missionary  Workshop. 

And  the  moment  a  man  feels  that  he  is 
called  to  be  indifferent  to  the  things  that 
belong  to  the  commission  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel in  this  world,  that  moment — I  care  not 
what  his  intellectual  or  oratorical  ability  or 
what  his  position  in  the  Church  may  be — 
the  moment  that  man  ceases  to  hold  that 
comprehensive  view  of  the  Gospel,  he  be- 
comes an  embezzler  from  Almighty  God, 
he  steals  from  the  heirs  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Now,  that  is  a  hard  sentence,  and  I  have 
not  time  to  make  it  explicit  in  the  few 
moments  given  me  this  afternoon ;  but  you 
and  I  are  sufficiently  acquainted  with  this 
word  to  know  the  command  of  Jesus  Christ. 
It  is  a  Christian  imperialism  that  we  are 
preaching  in  this  world. 

If  the  man  whose  business  it  is  to  serve 
as  a  watchman  on  the  walls  of  Israel  hears 
not  the  sound  of  hammers  and  the  shouting 
of  those  who  are  building  God's  kingdom, 
he  is  to  be  pitied ;  his  soul  is  not  aflame 
42 


The  Pastor. 

with  enthusiasm,  and  it  is  impossible  for 
him  to  kindle  the  zeal  or  stir  the  souls  of 
those  who  are  under  his  care.  It  was  my 
supreme  privilege  to  labor  as  a  pastor  for 
twenty-one  years ;  and  I  know  of  the  oppo- 
sition, the  spirit  of  pride  and  arrogance 
which  may  be  encountered  in  certain  por- 
tions of  our  church  life.  It  requires  a  man 
to  come  from  his  knees,  it  requires  him  to 
get  under  the  blood  of  the  cross  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  it  requires  him  to  hold  such  close 
relationship  with  the  blaster  that  he  con- 
fers not  with  flesh  and  blood  when  he  pre- 
sents the  cause  of  his  Lord  in  the  foreign 
work  before  the  congregation  to  whom  he 
is  called  to  minister.  Let  us  get  together, 
before  our  God,  and  ask  to  be  delivered 
from  the  discouraging  phases  of  opposition 
and  indifference,  by  turning  to  the  vision  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  by  knowing  him  in  the 
power  of  his  resurrection  and  the  fellow- 
ship of  his  passion  for  lost  men. 
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The  Missionary  Workshop. 


THE    PASTOR    SPREADING   MISSION- 
ARY  INFORMATION. 

By   REV.  JAMES   MUDGE,   D  D. 

As  I  think  of  the  seven  hundred  foreign 
missionaries  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  especially  of  the  little  band  in 
India  with  whom  it  was  my  privilege  to 
labor,  I  hear  them  saying  to  me,  "Speak 
for  us." 

Well  do  I  know  what  the  toil-worn, 
heart-burdened  men  and  women  -would 
have  me  say.  It  is  not  the  work  that  breaks 
those  men  down,  hard  as  that  work  often 
is ;  it  is  not  the  climate  with  its  terrific 
heat  and  its  perils  of  many  kinds ;  it  is 
not  even  the  long  separation  from  native 
land  and  loved  ones  that  cuts  them  most 
to  the  quick ;  nay,  nay,  these  they  can  en- 
dure and  can  gladly  welcome  for  Christ's 
sake.  But  what  does  afflict  them  the  most, 
believe  me,  what  does  kill  them  by  inches 
44 


The  Pastor. 

and  what  takes  their  very  heart's  blood  is 
their  being  forced,  for  lack  of  a  few  paltry- 
dollars,  to  turn  from  the  opening  doors  that 
on  every  side  invite  them ;  to  refuse  the  in- 
vitations that  continually  come  to  them ; 
nay,  to  tear  down  with  their  own  hands  that 
which  with  patient  sacrifice  they  have  built 
up.  When  school  doors  have  to  be  shut, 
chapels  to  be  closed,  native  preachers  and 
teachers  to  be  dismissed,  inquirers  to  be 
turned  away  by  the  hundreds,  and  converts 
by  the  thousands  to  be  thrust  back  into 
heathendom  simply  because  the  appropria- 
tions have  to  be  cut  and  cut  again — ah,  then 
they  cry  out  in  their  agony,  "O  Lord,  how 
long,  how  long!" 

When  the  pastor  in  the  home  land  per- 
functorily takes  up  the  missionary  collection 
and  gets  a  hundred  dollars  when  he  might, 
with  sufficient  effort,  have  got  five  hundred 
dollars ;  when  the  rich  church  pays  out  for 
its  music,  its  flowers,  its  costly  ornaments, 
45 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

and  its  luxurious  enjoyments  hundreds  of 
dollars  more  than  it  gives  to  save  a  thou- 
sand million  of  non-Christians — ah,  then 
that  pastor  little  knows,  that  church  little 
comprehends,  what  cruel  stabs  are  given  to 
the  heart  of  the  missionary — nay,  to  the 
heart  of  the  missionary's  Master  and  Lord. 

It  is  the  pastor  who  holds  the  key  to  the 
situation.  That  is  self-evident.  It  is  the 
negligence  and  apathy  of  the  pastor  that  ac- 
count for  the  indifference  of  the  churches. 
Of  that  I  am  absolutely  certain.  What  can 
the  pastor  do  to  make  himself  and  his 
church  missionary  in  spirit  and  practice? 
Three  things :  he  can  do  it  by  inculcating 
principles,  by  spreading  information,  and 
by  organizing  helpful  collection  agencies  in 
the  field  of  the  local  church  he  serves. 

The  spirit  of  missions  is  simply  and  solely 

the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ,    And  only  as  we, 

as   pastors,  shall   succeed   in   reviving  the 

spiritual  life  of  the  churches,  only  as  we 

46 


The  Pastor. 

shall  succeed  in  getting  them  filled  with  this 
personal  love  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  can 
we  hope  to  see  this  cause  marching  forward 
as  it  should,  and  this  indifference  disappear- 
ing. If  we  want  God's  cause  to  move  on,  if 
we  want  that  all  nations  should  speedily 
come  under  his  banner,  then  we  must  do  our 
very  best  to  arouse  our  churches,  to  get 
them  out  of  this  shallow  experience,  which 
is  scarcely  more  than  a  form,  and  get  them 
baptized  with  Pentecostal  power.  Then  the 
gold  will  be  poured  out  like  water  on  the 
altar  of  Christ's  cause. 

Fuel  is  necessary  that  the  fire  should 
burn,  and  the  pastor  is  the  one  who  should 
gather  together  and  heap  on  the  coal.  And 
facts  there  are  in  these  days,  of  the  most  en- 
couraging and  stimulating  character.  For  a 
dozen  or  more  years  I  have  read  the  best 
missionary  periodicals  in  the  world  as  they 
have  come,  month  by  month,  to  my  table ; 
and  I  can  aver  to  you  that  there  is  no  more 
47 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

fascinating  reading  than  that  which  is  piHng 
up  around  us  from  this  source. 

Give  the  people  the  facts,  and  the  funds 
will  come.  I  have  never  failed  to  increase 
my  Sunday  school  collection  from  three  to 
seven  fold  while  increasing  also  the  mis- 
sionary collections  in  the  congregation.  At 
a  little  church  in  Massachusetts,  where  I 
was  stationed  when  I  returned  from  India, 
now  nearly  twenty  years  ago,  I  drew  up  a 
constitution  for  my  missionary  society ;  and 
I  aver  to  you  that  if  that  could  be  generally 
adopted  and  worked  by  our  churches  the 
most  marvelous  results  would  follow.  I 
know  it  from  what  I  have  accomplished 
over  and  over  asrain. 


MISSIONARY    SERMONS. 

By  REV    SAMUEL  F.   UPHAM,   D.D. 

What  is  a  missionary  sermon  as  it  is 
usually  understood?    I  answer,  in  the  first 
48 


The  Pastor. 

place,  it  is  a  very  dry  concern.  There  are 
preachers  who  are  earnest,  alert,  and  dy- 
namic usually,  but  it  is  marvelous,  very 
marvelous,  how  dry  they  are  when  they  at- 
tempt to  preach  on  the  world's  conversion. 
In  some  parts  of  the  country  it  has  passed 
into  a  proverb  ;  "as  dry  as  a  missionary  ser- 
mon." I  have  myself  heard  men  preaching 
when  I  really  thought  they  would  endanger 
the  insurance  on  the  property — they  were 
so  very  dry. 

In  the  second  place,  missionary  sermons 
are  usually  much  too  narrow  in  their  scope. 
When  we  preach  a  missionary  sermon  we 
preach  on  the  foreign  field  entirely.  I  don't 
particularly  object  to  that  occasionally,  or 
even  frequently,  but  it  seems  to  me  we  must 
keep  ever  before  us  these  words,  "The  field 
is  the  world."  We  must  look  out  for  our 
own  country,  for  the  great  cities,  the  cen- 
ters of  population ;  for  in  the  great  cities 
and  centers,  like  Philadelphia,  New  York, 
4  49 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

and  Boston,  there  are  gathered  thousands 
of  foreigners.  We  send  the  Gospel  across 
the  sea — and  we  ought  to  do  it,  we  must 
continue  to  do  it — but  we  must  at  the  same 
time  look  out  for  those  strangers  who  are 
within  our  gates,  and  see  that  they  have 
brought  to  them  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of 
God. 

Then,  in  the  third  place,  a  missionary  ser- 
mon is  usually  a  very  unwelcome  affair. 

I  was  greatly  refreshed  when  going  to 
Philadelphia  three  years  ago  last  winter,  to 
one  of  the  largest  churches,  the  pastor  of 
which  had  been  a  pupil  of  mine.  He  invited 
me  to  come  to  his  church  and  preach  the 
missionary  sermon.  He  said  to  me:  "I 
gave  out  four  weeks  ago  that  you  were 
going  to  preach  a  missionary  sermon ;  we 
have  been  getting  ready  for  it  all  through 
the  four  weeks ;  they  are  expecting  it  to- 
morrow morning,  and  if  it  should  be  a 
pleasant  Sunday  morning  you  will  have  the 
50 


The  Pastor. 

church  crowded."  It  was  a  pleasant  Sun- 
day morning,  and  the  church  was  crowded 
from  one  end  to  the  other.  In  the  after- 
noon they  gathered  again  for  the  children's 
collection,  and  the  Sunday  school  came  in. 
Such  giving  I  never  saw  before.  In  the 
evening  I  preached  again — twice  the  same 
day — on  the  subject  of  missions ;  and  they 
grew  in  grace  all  the  time.  That's  the  way 
it  ought  to  be,  and  shame  on  the  congrega- 
tion that  will  not  stand  it. 

Now,  a  genuine  missionary  sermon,  if  I 
know  anything  about  it,  ought  to  be,  in  the 
first  place,  informing;  it  ought  to  abound 
with  facts,  and  the  facts  ought  to  be  well 
related  and  should  be  at  the  preacher's 
tongue's  end,  so  that  he  may  present  them 
effectively. 

In  the  next  place,  the  missionary  sermon 
ought  to  be  intellectual.     A  rehgious  dis- 
course is  called  a  sermon  only  by  courtesy 
unless  it  has  in  it  a  substratum  of  good,  so- 
51 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

ber  thought.  And  so  a  missionary  sermon 
is  a  miserable  apology,  a  caricature,  un- 
less underneath  it  there  is  a  foundation  of 
thought. 

These  missionary  sermons  must  be  fre- 
quent. If  I  were  pastor  I  would  not  an- 
nounce beforehand  that  next  Sunday  I 
intended  to  preach  a  missionary  sermon, 
but  I  would  preach  one ;  and  if  I  felt  con- 
strained to  preach  one  on  the  following 
Sunday  I  would  do  so.  I  would  preach 
many  times  a  year,  once  a  month  anyway, 
on  the  subject  of  Christian  missions. 

Let  a  pastor  next  Sunday  take  up  China 
and  tell  the  people  what  he  knows  about  the 
Chinese.  The  next  Sunday  let  him  take  up 
India,  and  tell  them  what  he  knows  about 
that  country;  then  Japan,  Korea,  going 
through  a  brief  history  of  the  nations, 
showing  their  peculiar  characteristics, 
showing  how  in  old  China  and  in  India, 
Japan,  and  Korea  the  old  Gospel  is  the 
.52 


The  Pastor. 

power  of  God  unto  salvation  just  as  it 
is  in  America.  The  people  will  listen  to 
such  proclamations  of  divine  truth  and  go 
away  pleased. 

We  have  been  praying  for  a  revival  for 
a  long  time,  and  some  have  said,  "After  all 
your  prayers  the  revival  has  not  come."  It 
has  come.  Not  exactly  along  the  lines  that 
we  expected  it,  perhaps,  but  it  has  come  in 
this  form :  a  quickening  throughout  all  our 
Methodism  of  a  desire  to  carry  the  Gospel 
to  the  earth's  remotest  bounds.  Let  us  be 
equal  to  the  occasion ;  and  let  us  feel,  breth- 
ren, as  pastors  of  the  churches,  the  tremen- 
dous responsibility  that  rests  upon  us. 
53 


DEVELOPING  THE  LOCAL 
CHURCH. 


THE    DISCIPLINARY    PLAN    OF   WORK 
FOR  THE    LOCAL   CHURCH. 

By  REV.  S.   O.  BENTON,  D.D. 

"The  support  of  missions  is  committed 
to  the  churches,  congregations,  and  socie- 
ties as  such."  So  says  the  Discipline ;  and 
in  saying  so  it  not  only  lays  down  the  basis 
of  the  regulations  of  our  own  Church  on 
this  subject,  but  it  condenses  into  a  single 
sentence  the  whole  philosophy  of  mission- 
ary support. 

The  Disciplinary  plan  contemplates  five 
things:  i.  The  diffusion  of  information. 
2,  A  monthly  meeting.  3.  A  method  of 
collections.  4.  An  annual  field  day.  5.  An 
organization  of  the  Sunday  school.  In  all 
54 


De;vi;i.oping  thk  Locai.  Church. 

these  the  pastor  is  assumed  to  be  the  leader. 
And  it  is  provided  that  he  shall  have  the 
active  cooperation  of  a  special  committee 
appointed  by  the  Quarterly  Conference.  As 
the  nomination  of  this  committee  is  largely 
under  control  of  the  pastor,  he  should  see 
to  it  that  suitable  selections  are  made.  In 
fact,  the  pastor  who  does  not  have  the  very 
best  material  his  church  affords  on  his  mis- 
sionary committee,  at  least  after  his  first 
year  in  a  charge,  is  responsible  for  a  neglect 
at  the  start  which  dooms  to  failure  the 
whole  Disciplinary  plan. 

The  first  item  in  the  plan  is  the  dissemi- 
nation of  information.  Intelligence  con- 
cerning missionary  matters  is  very  properly 
made  fundamental.  If  there  is  any  one 
word  that  we  need  to  emphasize  just  now, 
it  is  educate.  The  diffusion  of  information 
need  not  be  a  very  difficult  task  in  these 
days.  A  great  variety  of  attractive  mission- 
ary literature  is  within  easy  reach.  There 
55      ,   ' 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

is  our  excellent  monthly,  ]Vorld-Wide  Mis- 
sions, offered  free  to  all  families  which  sub- 
scribe one  dollar  or  more  to  the  general 
treasury.  The  pastor  is  expected  to  get  a 
list  of  all  such  families,  and  send  it  in.  You 
would  be  surprised  to  know  how  many  pas- 
tors do  not  do  it.  They  are  indifferent 
to  it.  And  here  is  really  one  of  the  very 
best  ways  of  improving  the  general  intelli- 
gence of  the  Church  on  the  subject  of  mis- 
sions. It  will  pay  occasionally,  brethren,  to 
send  for  a  quantity  of  sample  copies,  of- 
fered at  the  rate  of  a  dollar  per  hundred, 
and  distribute  them  gratuitously  among 
those  who  do  not  receive  them  under  the 
contribution  plan.  Some  of  these  persons 
will  subscribe  a  dollar  the  next  year. 

Then  we  have  a  really  interesting  line 
of  leaflets  at  low  rates,  as  you  will  find  if 
you  examine  them.  An  elegant  series  of 
brochures  on  the  several  fields  occupied  by 
our   Church  is  just  now  being  produced. 


DiJVIiLOPING   THE   LoCAL   ChURCH. 

Each  one  of  them  gives  a  graphic  descrip- 
tion of  some  one  country,  its  people,  cus- 
toms, and  rehgion,  and  then  shows  what  is 
being  done  for  its  evangeHzation.  Four 
of  these  numbers  are  already  pubHshed — 
one  on  India,  one  on  Korea,  one  on  China, 
and  one  on  Japan.  These  httle  books  are 
gems  of  the  printer's  art.  They  cost  only 
a  dime,  and  they  will  sell  on  sight  if  they 
are  offered  to  our  people.  Those  who  buy 
one  will  want  others,  finding  that  in  this 
way  they  can  acquire  a  really  beautiful  and 
valuable  missionary  library  at  a  very  trifling 
cost.  There  are  text-books  for  classes,  and 
there  are  the  larger  books,  The  Open  Door, 
the  campaign  libraries,  and  other  attractive 
volumes.  Some  of  these  can  be  sold,  some 
can  be  placed  in  the  Sunday  school  library, 
and  others  can  be  obtained  from  public 
libraries. 

In  beginning  the  observance  of  a  monthly 
missionary    meeting,    some    pastors    have 
57 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

thought  it  wise  to  move  cautiously  and  try 
first  a  quarterly  or  a  bimonthly  meeting.  It 
may  be  prudent  in  some  communities  to  put 
in  the  meeting  without  suggesting  it  as  a 
regular  arrangement,  and  make  it  so  good 
that  a  second  will  be  wanted  and  demanded, 
and  then  a  third,  and  then  a  repetition  at 
stated  intervals.  But  that  meeting  must  be 
made  an  interesting  meeting.  A  missionary 
prayer  meeting,  held  perfunctorily  and  left 
to  run  itself  out  in  extempore  generalities 
about  missions,  will  not  do  for  the  twen- 
tieth century.  Programs  must  be  prepared, 
and  in  the  preparation  of  these  the  pastor 
and  missionary  committee  will  have  ample 
opportunity  to  exercise  all  their  skill  in  pro- 
viding attractive  features.  Most  of  the 
parts  should  be  assigned  in  advance,  though 
never  to  the  absolute  exclusion  of  sponta- 
neous exercises.  I  found  very  great  help 
from  the  young  people  in  my  churches  in 
preparing  for  these  missionary  meetings. 
58 


Developing  the;  Locaiv  Church. 

Earnest  prayer  should  be  a  characteristic 
of  this  monthly  service.  Jesus  pointed  to 
the  whitening  fields  and  said,  "Pray  ye  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest  to  send  forth  laborers 
into  his  harvest."  The  aim  of  this  monthly 
meeting  should  be  not  merely  to  entertain, 
nor  even  to  instruct,  but  to  stimulate  to  a 
devout  pleading  with  God. 

The  Disciplinary  plan  for  making  col- 
lections is  thoroughly  methodical  as  well  as 
Methodistic.  It  presupposes  an  earnest  en- 
deavor to  get  every  member  of  the  church 
and  congregation  pledged  to  a  definite  con- 
tribution. The  last  man  is  to  be  found  and 
invited  to  help.  Now,  here  is  suggested 
a  serious  failure  in  our  practice.  In  many 
churches  a  few  persons  do  most  of  the  giv- 
ing. In  most  churches  may  be  found  a 
large  number  wdio  will  willfully  or  care- 
lessly neglect  their  privilege.  If  only  we 
could  succeed  in  securing  something,  what- 
ever they  might  chose  to  make  it,  from  all 
59 


The;  Missionary  Workshop. 

those  who  gave  nothing  to  us  the  last  year, 
we  would,  without  any  further  increase 
from  those  who  have  been  contributing,  see 
an  advance  in  our  collections  that  would 
startle  the  whole  Church. 

In  visiting  a  very  small  and  a  very  poor 
country  charge  for  quarterly  meeting  serv- 
ices, in  New  England,  a  few  years  ago,  I 
learned  from  the  pastor,  a  very  modest, 
quiet  man,  that  he  had  raised  a  hundred 
dollars  for  missions.  I  looked  at  him  with 
amazement.  I  would  not  have  thought  that 
such  an  offering  was  possible  in  that  com- 
munity. The  year  previous  the  collection 
was  eleven  dollars.  "Why,  my  brother," 
said  I,  "how  in  the  world  did  you  do  it?" 
"O,"  said  he,  in  his  quiet  way,  "I  only 
just  went  around  and  gave  them  all  an 
opportunity." 

Here  is  the  secret,  a  possibility  of  an  in- 
definite expansion  in  our  receipts.  Con- 
front everyone  with  a  chance  to  give  or  to 
60 


DevELoriNG  THD  Local  Church. 

refuse  to  give.  When  he  pledges  his  mite 
each  subscriber  may  elect  for  himself  how 
he  will  pay,  whether  annually  in  a  single 
payment  or  in  installments,  semiannually, 
monthly,  or  weekly. 

The  annual  field  day  should  be  a  red-let- 
ter day  in  the  calendar  of  the  local  church — 
a  day  in  which  the  cause  of  missions  should 
be  presented  at  every  service,  including  the 
Sunday  school  and  the  Epworth  League. 

The  organization  of  the  Sunday  school 
as  provided  in  the  Discipline  is  not  accom- 
plished by  taking  a  monthly  or  a  quarterly 
collection.  A  distinct  society  is  to  be 
formed  and  missionary  exercises  are  to  be 
introduced,  under  its  auspices,  with  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Sunday  School  Board. 
6i 


LEAGUE  MISSION  STUDY. 


MOTIVES  AND  METHODS  IN  MISSION 
STUDY. 

By  R.  E.  DIFFENDORFER. 

The;  provision  for  mission  study  in  the 
Epworth  League  is  found  in  an  article  in 
the  constitution  which  refers  to  a  depart- 
ment of  work.  But  that  is  not  the  "why" 
of  mission  study  in  our  young  people's  so- 
ciety. The  "why"  lies  in  the  following 
points :  The  lack  of  definite  knowledge 
among  our  young  people  as  to  the  mission- 
aries, their  work,  their  aims,  their  fields, 
their  province,  their  successes,  and  their 
outlook. 

The  work  was  introduced  in  the  young 
people's  society  of  our  Church  two  years 
62 


Lkague  Mission  Study. 

ago,  not  confining  it  to  Methodist  mis- 
sions, nor  to  any  particular  field,  nor  to 
any  particular  phase  of  the  work,  but  in 
as  definite  and  in  as  clear  a  way  as  pos- 
sible covering  the  lives  of  the  various 
missionaries  of  the  various  fields,  the  prob- 
lems of  all  the  missionaries,  their  successes, 
and  the  opportunities  before  them.  The 
plan  is  to  have  two  books  on  the  more 
important  fields.  One  is  to  be  biographical, 
covering  the  lives  of  the  great  pioneer  mis- 
sionaries of  these  countries.  For  instance, 
the  book  on  Africa,  called  The  Price  of 
Africa,  deals  with  the  pioneer  mission- 
aries of  Africa — David  Livingstone,  A.  C, 
Good,  and  others.  The  book  on  India, 
which  will  be  brought  out  before  long,  will 
deal  with  the  great  missionaries  of  India. 
The  book  on  China  deals  with  the  great 
missionaries  of  China,  Robert  Morrison 
and  his  type.  Again,  we  will  have  the  sec- 
ond book  on  Africa  and  India  and  China, 
63 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

which  will  deal  with  the  general  description 
of  the  missions  of  these  and  the  other  prin- 
cipal world  fields. 

Such  a  scheme  with  twenty  books  will 
fairly  cover  all  the  missionary  fields  and  is 
comprehensive  enough  to  warrant  our  best 
attention.  The  Price  of  Africa,  our  text- 
book for  1902-03,  adopted  by  twenty  or 
more  missionary  organizations,  was  used 
last  year  by  the  Epworth  League  in  over 
six  hundred  classes  with  six  thousand  mem- 
bers. The  book  was  written  by  S.  Earl 
Taylor,  and  presents  in  the  very  best  pos- 
sible way  the  field  covered  by  the  lives  of 
great  missionaries  in  Africa.  The  book  of 
this  year  is  by  Harlan  P.  Beach,  Secretary 
of  the  Volunteer  Movement,  a  man  who 
spent  ten  years  in  China  and  is  very  well 
qualified  to  write  on  such  a  subject.  It  in- 
cludes the  lives  of  Robert  Morrison,  John 
Kenneth  MacKenzie,  James  Gilmour,  John 
Nevius,  George  Mackay,  and  a  chapter  on 
64 


League  Mission  Study. 

the  "Princely  Martyrs  of  China's  Boxer 
Revolution." 

I  find  that  whenever  we  advocate  the 
organization  of  these  classes  the  first  objec- 
tion usually  made  is  that  we  cannot  find  a 
leader.  We  need  every  man  that  we  have 
for  other  work.  I  think  these  offerings 
of  special  helps,  prepared  by  the  authors 
of  the  text-books  for  the  leaders  of  classes, 
make  it  possible  for  any  amateur  to  take  up 
one  of  these  classes  and  make  it  a  success. 

As  a  result  of  a  mission  study  class  in 
a  Milwaukee  church  three  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  were  subscribed  to  missions,  and 
with  that  sum  as  a  nucleus,  the  Milwaukee 
Epworth  League  took  upon  itself  the  sup- 
port of  Dr.  Richards  in  East  Africa.  The 
mission  study  class  will  provide  this  great 
vision  concerning  the  work  of  the  mission- 
ary cause,  its  problems,  its  successes,  its 
fields  of  work.  It  will  arouse  a  heartfelt 
svmpathy  in  the  young  people  of  the  Church 
5  65 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

for  things  missionary.  It  will  provide  the 
money.  It  will  sow  the  seeds  in  the  hearts 
of  young  men  and  young  women  which  will 
cause  them  to  give  their  lives  to  the  Church 
for  foreign  missionary  service. 
66 


WORKING  THE  "STATION 
PLAN." 


THE    "STATION    PLAN"    IN    THE 
NEW   YORK  DISTRICT  LEAGUE. 

By  W.  O.   GANTZ. 

A  FEW  words  of  explanation  on  the  "Sta- 
tion Plan"  may  first  be  required.  A  group 
of  people,  in  the  churches  and  in  societies  of 
young  people,  and  old  people,  as  well  as 
those  in  the  Sunday  school,  may  join  to- 
gether in  providing  the  support  of  a  mis- 
sionary at  his  station  in  a  foreign  field ;  they 
may  pay  all  of  his  necessary  expenses ;  they 
may  take  a  man  who  has  been  sent  out  by  a 
Board  and  relieve  the  Board  of  the  support 
of  that  man ;  they  may,  as  time  goes  on, 
provide  assistants  for  that  man,  and  raise 
funds  to  build  his  church,  if  that  be  neces- 
^7 


The  Missionary  Workshop, 

sary,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  take  the  entire 
support  of  the  station. 

There  is  another  side,  and  that  is  that 
they  get  into  direct  and  constant  communi- 
cation with  a  particular  spot  on  the  other 
side  of  the  world. 

The  "Station  Plan"  contemplates  gifts 
over  and  above  all  the  regular  gifts  of  the 
individual  before  that  time,  so  you  see  it 
does  not  embarrass  the  Board,  but  adds  so 
much  to  its  ability  to  carry  on  the  work,  by 
increasing  the  missionary  force. 

The  first  year  we  raised  one  thousand  dol- 
lars which  is  necessary  for  the  support  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs,  Burton  L.  St.  John.  We  took 
thp.m  because  of  their  splendid  equipment. 
They  had  just  gone  to  Peking  and  we 
wanted  to  start  with  them.  So  they  have 
been  out  there,  sending  us  back  letters, 
sending  back  pictures  of  the  hospital  and 
of  Peking  University,  and  of  the  Great 
Wall,  and  writing  us  letters  touching  on 
68 


WoRKiNO  Tiiiv  "Station  Plan." 

the  character  of  their  work  and  the  splendid 
opportunities  which  they  have. 

This  is  the  plan  as  it  has  worked  out. 
We  are  coming  to  our  second  year.  We 
shall  send  to  these  same  people  and  ask 
them  to  continue  the  support  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  St.  John. 

It  may  be  asked,  What  would  happen  if 
we  do  not  continue  our  support  of  the  St. 
Johns?  I  am  not  going  to  answer  that  so 
far  as  we  are  concerned.  If  you  want 
an  academic  reply,  I  suppose  I  can  answer 
as  well  as  anyone,  that  the  Board  would 
take  up  their  support,  and  be  compelled  to 
cut  off  needed  advances  in  some  other  di- 
rection. But,  bear  in  mind,  the  New  York 
District  is  going  to  support  the  St.  Johns 
next  year.  There  isn't  going  to  be  any  fall- 
ing back.  Have  faith  in  God,  and  confi- 
dence in  your  fellow-men,  and  let  them 
know  that  you  believe  that  all  things  are 
possible,  God  being  with  us. 
69 


THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  AND 
MISSIONS. 


THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  MISSIONARY 
SOCIETY. 

By  REV.  HEDDING  B.  LEECH. 

In  The  Worker's  Manual,  furnished  by 
the  Open  Door  Emergency  Commission, 
there  are  suggestions  which  cover  the 
entire  field  with  relation  to  the  subject  of 
the  Sunday  school  and  missions. 

The  first  suggestion  is  that  the  pastor 
recommend  the  organization  of  a  Sunday 
School  Missionary  Society.  According  to 
the  Discipline,  the  practical  matter  of  or- 
ganization in  detail  is  committed  to  the  care 
of  the  Sunday  School  Board.  This  Board 
elects  the  officers  of  the  Missionary  So- 
ciety— president,  vice  president,  secretary, 
and  treasurer — and  the  Executive  Commit- 
70 


Sunday  Sciiooiv  and  Missions. 

tee  or  Board  of  Managers  is  composed  of 
the  above-named  officers.  The  society  it- 
self is  composed  of  all  the  members  of  the 
school.  Such  organization  is  a  matter  con- 
cerning which  we  have  no  option.  It  is 
our  duty  to  organize  the  school  into  a 
Missionary  Society. 

The  Sunday  School  Missionary  Society, 
after  having  thus  been  organized,  so  far  as 
its  officers  are  concerned,  by  the  Sunday 
School  Board,  becomes  responsible  for  the 
direction  of  the  cause  of  missions  in  the 
school. 

Second :  A  missionary  collection,  as  far 
as  practicable,  is  to  be  taken  monthly  in 
each  Sunday  school.  This  is  almost  as 
mandatory  as  the  first.  I  believe  it  is  the 
duty  of  every  Sunday  school  in  Methodism 
to  organize  a  Missionary  Society,  and  to 
take  this  monthly  missionary  collection. 

Third :  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Sunday 
School  Missionary  Society  to  provide  for 
71 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

missionary  exercises  in  the  school  on  the 
day  that  the  monthly  missionary  collection 
is  taken.  So  you  see,  under  that  provision, 
there  is  no  excuse  for  the  system  which  is 
sometimes  worked,  of  simply  receiving  the 
collection,  month  by  month,  without  having 
any  program,  and  without  having  any  in- 
formation given  out. 

Fourth :  "The  Sunday  School  Mission- 
ary Society  is  required  to  distribute  suitable 
literature  in  the  Sunday  school,  and  arrange 
for  occasional  missionary  concerts  or 
programs." 

There  are  Sunday  schools  in  which  the 
officers  of  the  Missionary  Society  make 
careful  preparation  for  the  monthly  pro- 
gram, providing  the  best  talent  it  is  possible 
to  secure,  and  they  are  given  all  the  time 
they  need,  at  least  thirty  minutes,  on  either 
the  first  or  the  last  Sunday  of  each  month, 
to  be  occupied  in  presenting  the  cause  of 
missions  to  the  school. 
72 


Sunday  School  and  Missions. 

I  would  earnestly  urge  that  the  Sunday 
School  Missionary  Society  provide  at  least 
annually,  and  if  possible  semiannually,  with 
the  approval  of  the  pastor,  and  with  his  co- 
operation, for  a  Sunday  evening  concert. 
Get  the  best  speaker  that  you  can  find,  pro- 
vide information  from  the  field,  circulate 
missionary  literature,  and  have  your  mis- 
sionary maps  on  hand.  Let  the  scholars 
have  several  weeks  in  which  to  make  their 
collections,  and  when  the  offerings  are  re- 
ceived make  something  of  it.  Have  the 
scholars  bring  the  envelopes  forward,  and 
deposit  them  with  the  treasurer,  giving 
some  item  of  information  concerning  the 
great  need  of  the  mission  field,  some  appro- 
priate passage  of  Scripture,  some  word  or 
hymn.  These,  committed  to  memory,  al- 
ways remain  in  the  mind  of  the  child  as  a 
nucleus  around  which  other  missionary  in- 
formation, as  time  passes,  will  gather. 

There  should  be  the  closest  cooperation 
7Z 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

between  the  superintendent  and  the  pastor, 
and  between  the  superintendent  and  the  of- 
ficers of  the  Missionary  Society,  Some- 
times the  relationship  of  these  two  depart- 
ments is  not  clearly  understood.  The  su- 
perintendent is  not  by  reason  of  his  ofifice 
the  executive  officer  of  the  Missionary  So- 
ciety, and  yet  the  president  should  advise 
with  him.  The  president  should  preside 
during  that  part  of  the  school  time  which  is 
devoted  to  missions. 


MISSIONARY   RESPONSIBILITY  OF 
SUNDAY  SCHOOL  WORKERS. 

By  WILLIS  W.   COOPER. 

I  HAVE  hope  that  some  one  will  speak  the 
word  which  will  awaken  the  Sunday  school 
superintendents  of  this  land  to  the  respon- 
sibilities that  rest  upon  their  shoulders. 
Years  ago  it  was  the  custom  of  our  fathers 
to  take  the  children  and  insist  upon  their 
74 


Sunday  School  and  Missions. 

going  to  church  services — morning  service, 
class  meeting,  prayer  meeting,  and  all  the 
services  of  the  Church.  It  was  the  rule  of 
the  fathers  of  the  past  that  they  have  family 
prayers  in  the  home,  and  on  Sabbath  after- 
noon they  gathered  together  about  the  home 
circle  and  taught  the  children  the  way  of 
God  and  instilled  into  their  hearts  the  great 
fundamental  principles  of  religious  life  and 
character. 

Somehow  the  impression  has  gone  out 
that  we  are  not  as  careful  in  these  directions 
as  were  the  fathers ;  that  the  children  of  all 
these  Christian  homes  have  been  turned 
over  to  the  Sunday  school,  and  to  the  young 
people's  societies,  and  the  children's  meet- 
ings, for  their  religious  instruction  and 
training. 

If  these  are  the  facts,  then  it  seems  to  me 

that    the    Sunday    school    superintendent, 

looking  out  upon  the  homes  all  through  the 

community,   should   realize   that   upon   his 

75 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

corps  of  teachers  rests  the  responsibiHty  of 
laying  the  fouiidation  of  Christian  character 
in  the  hearts  of  the  young. 

The  prime  need  of  this  hour  is  that  super- 
intendents, our  many  thousands  of  superin- 
tendents, should  have  caught  the  vision  of 
our  Master,  his  last  dying  command  to  the 
world,  when  he  said,  "Go  and  disciple  all 
nations."  O,  how  many  of  us  have  heard 
that  call  and  feel  that  it  means  that  upon 
you  and  me  rests  this  responsibility.  I  am 
so  glad  that  in  these  days  there  are  men  and 
women  who  believe,  if  they  cannot  go,  then 
it  is  their  duty  to  send  this  Gospel  around 
the  world. 

The  responsibility  should  come  home  to 
us,  when  we  recall  what  some  other  of  the 
organizations  are  doing.  How  gladly  we 
refer  to  the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary 
Society!  Only  thirty-five  years  ago  it  was 
organized,  and  yet,  during  that  thirty-five 
years,  after  the  burden  of  responsibilitv 
76 


Sunday  School  and  Missions. 

had  rested  down  upon  a  few  hearts  at  first, 
over  six  millions  of  dollars  have  been  raised 
by  these  faithful  women  upon  the  two- 
cents-a-week  plan.  Wonderful!  During 
the  last  year  almost  a  half  million  of  dol- 
lars— four  hundred  and  sixty-seven  thou- 
sand dollars,  I  think  it  was — have  been 
raised  by  the  women  of  our  Church.  God 
bless  them  for  feeling  the  responsibility  that 
rests  upon  them ! 

And,  again,  a  while  ago  there  was  noth- 
ing done  in  the  rank  and  file  of  the  young 
people  of  our  Church,  but  in  some  way  the 
work  got  started  and  developed  until  we 
have  this  missionary  spirit,  this  missionary 
vision,  if  you  please,  until  thousands  upon 
thousands  are  united  to-day  in  the  study, 
the  systematic  study,  of  the  great  problem 
of  missions.  They  are  inaugurating  a  cam- 
paign until  the  whole  community  is  be- 
coming enlightened  by  information  thus 
obtained. 

77. 


The;  Missionary  Workshop. 

Once  more,  we  may  ask  the  question,  will 
our  responsibility  be  any  the  less  if  we  will 
not  see? 

It  is  plain  to  every  one  of  us  that  we  can- 
not shirk;  that  God  will  hold  us  respon- 
sible if  we  are  not  true  to  the  vision  as  we 
see  it.  And  whether  we  see  it  or  not — I 
mean  in  this  sense,  that  if  we  are  deter- 
mined that  we  will  not  see  it,  that  we  will 
not  follow  God's  special  call — then  God  will 
hold  us  responsible. 

How  can  we  do  more  to  awaken  the  Sun- 
day school?  It  seems  to  me,  dear  friends, 
if  we  would  do  what  we  ought  to  do  for 
missions,  we  would  see  to  it  that  the  Sunday 
school,  with  all  its  possibilities,  its  enthu- 
siastic young  people,  would  be  the  largest 
and  most  important  factor  in  the  Church  of 
God.  It  can  be  made  so.  Let  us  resolve 
that,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned,  we  will  be 
true  to  the  vision  as  it  shall  show  itself,  and 
go  out  and  do  our  duty. 
78 


MISSIONARY  ACCESSORIES. 


HELPS    FOR     THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL. 

By  MISS  V.  F.  PENROSE. 

I  THINK  our  Sunday  schools  ought  to 
show  that  they  belong  to  God  for  missions. 
They  may  have  chairs  and  a  desk,  but  they 
ought  to  have  a  map  of  the  world.  Before 
you  give  any  money  to  missions,  buy  that 
three-dollar  map  and  hang  it  up  and  keep 
it  up.  It  is  one  of  the  most  important 
things  in  the  work.  The  people  who  come 
into  the  room  will  notice  it  in  a  way  you 
will  little  understand.  It  can  be  used  again 
and  again.  I  heard  of  one  church  where 
the  map  was  frescoed  on  the  wall. 

Besides  the  map,  you  should  have  other 
things.  Our  missionaries  can  send  a  great 
many  little  inexpensive  things  which  can 
79 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

be  framed  or  fastened  to  the  wall,  such  as 
scrolls,  or  embroidery  with  mottoes. 

Illustrate  Bible  expressions.  Take  the 
words,  "O  Baal,  hear  us,"  where  you  read 
the  description  of  Baal  worship.  I  have 
given  that  description  and  held  up  these 
gods  of  mercy  from  South  China,  prayed 
to  in  times  of  sickness  and  trouble.  Think 
of  it!  All  the  false  or  heathen  prophets 
gathered  together,  crying,  "O  Baal,  hear 
us."  And  this  also  [indicating]  has  been 
prayed  to  in  the  same  way,  and  no  voice, 
no  answer.  Boys  and  girls  seeing  a  thing 
like  that  don't  forget  it. 

Then,  we  talk  of  "vain  repetitions." 
There  are  such  in  heathen  lands  when  they 
say  names  over  and  over  again,  and  these 
words  of  the  Bible  about  the  custom  take 
on  a  new  meaning. 

In  this  same  Simday  school  where  this 
wall  decoration  is  hung  the  superintendent 
has  taken  one  or  two  curiosities,  perhaps  a 
80 


Missionary  Accessories. 

Chinese  book,  bought  it  and  lent  it  to  the 
classes.  There  were  not  enough  objects  to 
go  round,  but  one  class  will  have  one  for  a 
week  to  take  home  and  examine,  so  the 
families  might  see  it.  Sometimes,  when 
one  curiosity  is  all  there  is,  after  the  speak- 
er is  through  and  it  has  been  shown  from 
the  desk,  it  can  be  given  to  one  class  and 
passed  around,  and  it  is  surprising  how 
many  children  can  handle  the  thing  in  a 
very  short  space  of  time.  They  don't  hurt 
it — and  that  is  another  point — they  handle 
it  carefully  and  it  comes  back  safely. 

The  Sunday  school  teacher  can  do  much. 
I  have  a  class  of  boys — and  you  know  boys 
have  a  great  deal  of  curiosity — and  I  like 
to  lay  down  something  and  not  make  any 
remarks ;  for  I  know  that  some  boy  will 
immediately  take  it  up  and  want  to  know 
what  it  is,  providing  a  very  good  opportu- 
nity to  explain  the  object. 

At  the  missionary  exhibit  there  are  little 
6  8i 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

boxes  hanging  up  for  Christmas  offerings, 
a  special  Christmas  offering,  and  the  boards 
of  eight  different  denominations  have 
asked  that  we  as  individuals  and  in  the  Sun- 
day schools  secure  these  boxes  that  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  may  have  a  special  gift 
for  missions. 

In  our  Sunday  school  the  least  interested 
man  is  often  picked  out  to  give  a  mission- 
ary talk.  There  was  one  man  picked  out  to 
give  a  talk,  who  said :  "Don't  ask  me  to  give 
a  talk  about  Korea.  I  don't  know  anything 
about  it."  He  was  given  two  weeks  to 
read  up.  He  read  four  books  on  Korea, 
and  he  never  read  a  missionary  book  be- 
fore. He  said,  "I  didn't  know  missionary 
books  are  like  that  one  is."  He  gave  the 
talk,  and  one  of  the  young  men  of  his  class 
entered  the  church  the  following  commun- 
ion season.  Then  he  said,  "Why,  now  my 
class  are  all  members  of  the  Church,  and 
what  better  can  they  be  at  than  missions." 
82 


Missionary  Accessories. 

He  organized  them  into  a  club  in  which  mis- 
sions was  one  feature.  He  was  an  uninter- 
ested man  three  months  before,  but  he  had 
to  read  in  order  to  give  the  talk,  and  it 
enlisted  him. 

Information  precedes  interest.  In  our 
school  each  class  is  asked  to  subscribe  for 
one  copy  of  a  missionary  magazine  at 
twenty-five  cents  a  year  and  to  read  it — 
each  member  marking  the  articles  most  in- 
teresting to  him  or  her. 

Get  that  ten-dollar  library,  take  one 
book,  mark  a  chapter,  and  give  it  to  some 
uninterested  person.  Don't  ask  that  he 
read  the  whole  book.  In  The  Korean  Boy 
1  think  everybody  who  reads  that  chapter 
about  the  Korean  boy  will  want  to  read 
more. 

After  a  little  talk  has  been  given  in  Sun- 
day schools  the  boys  and  girls  have  been 
asked  to  send  a  postal  card  or  note,  telling 
what  they  have  heard;  and  five,  six,  seven, 
83 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

or  eight  boys  or  girls  would  write  what 
they  heard.  It  was  quite  surprising  how 
they  were  interested  by  doing  that.  These 
postal  cards  were  reported  in  the  Sunday 
school,  and  so  many  were  received.  One 
little  girl  said  the  postal  card  was  not  long 
enough  and  please  excuse  her  for  writing 
a  letter,  and  she  wrote  a  two  or  three  page 
letter.  And  then  the  name  of  the  one  who 
wrote  the  best  postal  or  letter,  who  gave 
the  most  accurate  account,  was  read  out  in 
the  Sunday  school  as  an  incentive  for  fu- 
ture work. 

84 


THE  LAYMEN. 


LAYMEN    AND    THE    MISSIONARY 
SPIRIT. 

By  JOHN  E.  JAMES,   M.D. 

Standi  NX  out  like  Mont  Blanc  among 
the  mountain  peaks  of  the  Switzerland 
Alps,  we  see  upon  the  pages  of  the  world's 
history  three  great  men  who  represent 
epochs  that  have  materially  changed  the 
world.  Paul,  that  mighty  man  of  God, 
stands  out  as  the  great  Apostle  to  the 
Gentiles. 

Martin  Luther  was  inspired  to  translate 
the  Bible  in  its  entirety  into  a  single 
language,  and  started  the  Reformation,  giv- 
ing a  new  trend  to  modern  history. 

John  Wesley  started  a  revival  the  like 
85 


The;  Missionary  Workshop. 

of  which  the  world  has  never  seen, 
that  changed  the  Hterature  of  England, 
controlled  statesmen,  and  remodeled 
England. 

The  preaching  of  the  laymen  gave  em- 
phasis and  power  to  the  movement. 
The  missionary  spirit  was  in  John  Wes- 
ley. It  is  the  missionary  spirit  that  was  in 
his  colaborers  at  that  time  that  has  been 
carried  down  with  the  growth  of  the 
Church,  and  has  made  it  a  working  Church. 
God  opened  up  before  the  laymen  of  the 
Church  an  opportunity  such  as  they  had  not 
before,  an  opportunity  to  work  for  him, 
but  he  added  also  the  responsibility  that 
always  goes  with  opportunity.  That  is  the 
serious  part  of  it.  We  do  not  give  all  our 
time,  we  do  not  give  up  business  necessa- 
rily, but  we  are  just  as  much  responsible 
for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  as  the  preacher. 
There  is  as  much  responsibility  and  obliga- 
tion upon  the  layman  as  upon  the  preacher 
86 


Tnii  Laymen. 

to  propagate  tlie  religion  of  Jesus  Christ; 
the  methods  may  (h'ffer,  but  the  (hity  is  the 
same. 


IMPORTANCE    OF  PROMOTING  SCRIP- 
TURAL HABITS  OF  GIVING. 

By  LYMAN  L.    PIERCE. 

If  I  am  to  judge  by  my  own  experience, 
during  all  these  recent  years,  we  have  been 
comparatively  silent  on  the  subject  of  giv- 
ing as  a  life  principle.  Yet  I  declare  to  you 
my  positive,  unwavering  conviction  that  the 
promulgation  of  this  principle  is  one  of  our 
greatest  obligations.  It  is  not  alone  at 
gatherings  of  this  kind  that  we  are  con- 
fronted by  the  need  of  money.  In  every 
department  of  church  work  retrenchment 
has  become  a  study ;  parsimony  is  our  pol- 
icy ;  deficit  is  our  nightmare ;  begging  is 
our  avocation. 

The  importance  of  promoting  scriptural 
giving  is  best  emphasized  when  we  consider 
87 


Tnii  Missionary  Workshop. 

the  prevailing  low  standards.  I  wish  that 
the  day  were  past  when  fairs  and  fetes  and 
festivals  and  functions  were  required  as  a 
part  of  the  financial  machinery  of  our 
church  work. 

Probably  the  prevailing  standard  of  giv- 
ing is  that  which  is  governed  by  impulse, 
caused  by  some  eloquent  appeal,  resulting 
in  giving  what  a  man  then  thinks  he  can 
afford.  I  hear  a  statement  of  a  case  which 
works  strongly  on  my  sympathies,  and  I 
abandon  myself  to  the  impulse  and  give  a 
dollar,  or  all  that  I  have  in  my  purse,  or,  in 
extreme  cases,  I  even  cast  my  jewelry  into 
the  basket. 

We  do  not  need  to  be  in  darkness  as  to 
the  standard  which  God  himself  has  set. 
God  teaches  plainly  that  I  need  a  standard 
for  my  Christian  giving.  He  shows  posi- 
tively that,  unless  I  have  such  a  standard,  I 
will  give  by  impulse  and  woefully  exagger- 
ate the  amount,  or  else  I  will  not  give  at  all. 


The  Laymen. 

From  cover  to  cover  of  his  word  runs  a 
clear,  oft-repeated,  unmistakable  law  on  the 
subject  of  giving.  The  minimum  expres- 
sion of  this  law  is  the  tithe  and  the  offer- 
ings. When  the  people  of  God  wandered 
away  from  him,  he  called  them  to  account 
in  these  scathing  words :  "Will  a  man  rob 
Gd^^  Yet  ye  have  robbed  me.  But  ye  say, 
Wherein  have  we  robbed  thee?  In  tithes 
and  offerings."  And  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures  embody  this  when  Christ  says, 
"One  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass 
from  the  law,  till  all  be  fulfilled."  "I  am 
not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfill."  As  has 
been  truly  said,  the  New  Testament  de- 
iiiaiids  less  but  expects  more.  Dr.  F.  B. 
Meyer  has  said,  "Surely  the  noon  of  Chris- 
tianity should  not  inspire  less  beneficence 
than  the  twilight." 

Let  us  note  the  results  of  the  prevailing 
standards  of  giving.     The  yearly  contribu- 
tion  of   over    thirteen    million    evangelical 
89 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

Protestant  church  members  in  the  United 
States  averages  less  than  ninety  cents  per 
member  for  both  home  and  foreign  mis- 
sions, and  of  the  abundant  wealth  of  the 
Church  only  one  thirty-second  of  one  per 
cent  was  given  last  year  for  foreign  mis- 
sions. Had  each  person  averaged  a  cent  a 
day — for  which  low  standard  we  have  no 
justification  whatever — the  total  would 
have  been  four  times  as  much.  I\Ir.  Eddy 
calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  our  women 
spend  more  for  artificial  flowers  and  kid 
gloves  and  more  for  jewelry  by  twenty 
times  than  the  Church  gives  for  missions, 
and  last  year  many  times  as  much  was 
smoked  away  as  the  Christians  have  given 
in  a  century  to  evangelize  the  world ! 

But  you  say  that  these  high  ideals  of 
Christian  giving  are  not  practical ;  that  they 
cannot  be  carried  into  operation.  On  the 
contrary,  the  theory  has  been  demonstrated 
over  and  over.  Notable  instances  were  N. 
90 


The;  Laymen, 

R.  Cobb,  of  Boston,  and  William  Colgate, 
of  New  York. 

At  present  our  church  membership,  in  an 
overwhelming  majority,  is  observing  the 
very  lowest  forms  of  giving.  It  is  not  con- 
tinuous, is  not  systematic,  is  not  proportion- 
ate. They  are  violating  commands  of  God 
which  are  unmistakable,  they  are  failing  to 
accept  God's  challenge  to  material  prosper- 
ity, they  are  dwarfing  spiritually,  they  are 
retarding  the  kingdom  of  God,  standing  in 
the  way  of  sinners,  and  failing  to  remove 
the  most  serious  obstacles  in  the  way  of  all- 
around  development.  They  are  making 
short-sighted  investments  which  must  re- 
sult in  following  Christ  afar  off  if  at  all. 
That  is  why  the  solution  of  this  problem 
which  we  are  considering  to-day  has  been 
well  named  a  question  of  Gospel  dynamics. 
If  we  would  sweep  the  world  into  the  king- 
dom it  must  be  a  great,  universal,  spon- 
taneous movement  which  pervades  the 
91 


The  Missionary,  Workshop. 

whole  earth.  If  such  a  result  is  attained  it 
will  evangelize  the  world,  and  will  do  it  in 
this  generation — a  result  not  easy  but  pos- 
sible, an  undertaking  most  worthy  of  our 
mettle,  most  pleasing  to  God,  and  with  an 
outcome  most  devoutly  to  be  desired. 


THE  CIRCULATION   OF    GOOD 
LITERATURE. 

By  G.   W.    F.  SWARTZELL. 

Among  those  who  attended  the  conven- 
tion at  Cleveland,  as  attentive  and  inter- 
ested listeners,  were  two  laymen  from  the 
city  of  Washington,  Soon  after  returning 
home  they  discussed  the  subject  of  the  dis- 
tribution of  literature,  and  of  preparing  a 
plan  for  assisting  thereby,  so  far  as  they 
might  be  able  to  do,  the  pastors  of  the  Balti- 
more Conference,  following  the  recommen- 
dation of  the  convention  respecting  the  edu- 
cation of  the  people  in  systematic  giving. 
92 


Tiuc  Laymun. 

The  result  of  their  conference  was  the 
forming  of  a  Committee  on  Tract  Distribu- 
tion. The  committee  was  composed  of  five 
business  and  professional  men. 

Counsel  was  obtained  of  several  of  the 
presiding  elders  and  a  number  of  the  lead- 
ing pastors,  and  the  plan  received  their  ap- 
proval. A  member  of  the  committee  also 
appeared  before  the  Preachers'  Meetings  of 
Washington  and  Baltimore,  and  presented 
the  subject  before  those  bodies,  securing  in- 
dorsement of  the  plan.  Headquarters,  em- 
bracing an  office,  and  a  distributing  depot, 
were  established  and  the  pastors  were  com- 
municated with. 

The  Baltimore  Conference  contains  about 
two  hundred  active  members.  Responses 
were  received  from  one  hundred  and  four 
of  them,  desiring  to  be  supplied  with  tracts. 
The  total  requests  amounted  to  about  sev- 
enteen thousand  copies.  There  were  ninety- 
six  who  were  without  a  copy  of  The  Open 
93 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

Door,  to  whom  it  was  sent  with  the  compH- 
ments  of  the  committee.  Two  said  they 
could  not  cooperate,  and  the  remainder 
made  no  response.  It  is  possible  that  there 
would  have  been  a  greater  number  of  re- 
sponses if  the  intended  elasticity  of  the  let- 
ter had  been  more  fully  understood. 

In  order  to  save  itself  some  labor,  and 
make  the  distribution  as  nearly  simulta- 
neous as  possible,  the  committee  sent  its 
shipping  list  to  the  publisher  of  the  tract  to 
be  distributed,  "What  We  Owe  and  How 
to  Pay  It,"  had  him  count,  wrap,  and  ad- 
dress the  separate  packages,  put  all  in  one 
case,  and  ship  to  Washington,  from  which 
point  the  distribution  of  the  separate  pack- 
ages was  conducted  through  the  local  ship- 
ping department,  either  by  mail  or  express, 
as  the  size  of  the  package  required. 

The  tract  thus  distributed  was  used  as  a 
starter  for  two  reasons:  first,  because  sev- 
eral members  of  the  committee  and  some 
94 


The  iLAYMDN. 

of  their  friends  had  efifective  as  well  as  sat- 
isfactory experience  with  it  many  years 
ago ;  and,  second,  because  the  other  sub- 
jects which  it  proposed  to  use  were  not  then 
in  print.  Those  other  subjects  were  the 
admirable  addresses  of  President  Bashford, 
Dr.  Locke,  and  Professor  Magruder,  deliv- 
ered a  year  ago  at  Cleveland.  These  are 
now  on  hand,  and  will  be  distributed  at 
proper  intervals. 

Why  may  not  a  few  laymen  in  each  Con- 
ference, or  perhaps  in  each  presiding  elder's 
district,  organize  themselves  into  a  commit- 
tee on  the  distribution  of  literature,  under 
the  supervision  of  the  presiding  elders  or 
elder,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  in  this  man- 
ner be  the  supporters  and  helpers  of  both 
presiding  elders  and  pastors ;  not  by  sym- 
pathy merely,  but  in  very  act?  This  is  not 
only  possible  and  feasible  but  it  is  very 
desirable,  as  it  will  at  the  same  time  enlist 
the  laymen  in  missions. 
95 


DECLARATIONS  OF  PURPOSE. 

Without  doubt  the  Section  Conferences 
of  the  Philadelphia  Convention  were  among 
the  most  helpful  and  memorable  features  of 
that  gathering.  The  entire  afternoon  of  the 
second  day  of  the  Convention  was  given 
over  to  conferences  of  presiding  elders, 
district  missionary  secretaries,  pastors,  rep- 
resentatives of  the  Epworth  League,  Sun- 
day school  workers,  and  laymen.  These 
workers  assembled  in  their  several  groups 
after  careful  deliberation  registered  their 
convictions  in  the  form  of  written  policies. 
These  strong  declarartions  of  purpose  are 
especially  significant.  Since  the  Conven- 
tion was  made  up  of  representative  mem- 
bers of  the  Church,  if  the  points  embodied 
are  followed  out  it  will  mean  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  widespread  and  aggressive  mis- 
sionarv  campaign. 

96 


THE  POLICIES  ADOPTED. 

I.  Presiding  Ei.de;rs. 
Recognizing  this  new  missionary  era  as 
one  demanding  new  methods,  also  as  one 
calling  for  new  emphasis  upon  plans  hither- 
to successful  in  inciting  to  missionary  activ- 
ity and  liberality,  we,  assembled  in  the 
Presiding  Elders'  Section  Conference  of  the 
Eastern  Missionary  Convention,  Philadel- 
phia, October  15,  1903,  do  hereby  express 
ourselves  favorable  to  the  following  policy : 

1.  The  making  more  effective  the  Dis- 
ciplinary provisions  concerning  Missions, 
particularly  those  relating  to  the  Missionary 
Committee,  the  Sunday  School  Mission- 
ary Society,  and  the  Monthly  Missionary 
Prayer  Meeting. 

2.  The  bringing  to  the  attention  of  each 
young  people's  society  the  importance  of 
missionary   and   Bible   study   classes,   this, 

1.  97 


Thi;  Missionary  Workshop. 

when  feasible,  to  culminate  in  the  support 
of  a  foreign  missionary  sent  out  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  District  League. 

3.  The  earnest  support  by  the  presiding 
elders  of  any  efforts  made  by  the  Mission- 
ary Society  in  providing  an  adequate  mis- 
sionary literature  for  our  Sunday  schools 
and  Epworth  Leagues. 

4.  The  inaugurating  of  District  and  Con- 
ference missionary  conventions  and  cam- 
paigns in  harmony  with  the  work  of  the 
Open  Door  Emergency  Commission. 

5.  The  adopting  of  one  dollar  a  mem- 
ber for  missions  as  a  minimum  standard. 

IL  District  Missionary  Secretaries. 

We,  the  district  missionary  secretaries, 
assembled  in  Section  Conference,  believing 
that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has 
reached  a  crisis  in  her  missionary  history, 
heartily  and  unanimously  recommend  and 
indorse  the  following  policy : 
98 


The  Policies  Adopted. 

1.  The  immediate  carrying  into  effect 
of  all  our  Disciplinary  provisions  relating 
to  missions  in  the  Church  and  Sunday 
school. 

2.  The  urging  of  our  Epworth  Leagues 
to  purchase  the  missionary  libraries  for  the 
instruction  of  their  membership. 

3.  The  persistent  pushing  of  the  "Dollar 
a  Member"  plan  throughout  the  Church  in 
America  wherever  possible. 

4.  Systematic  campaigning  on  every  pre- 
siding elder's  district  in  the  Church. 

III.  Pastors. 

We,  the  pastors  assembled  in  Section 
Conference,  believing  that  as  a  Church  we 
are  ready  for  an  immediate  and  aggressive 
campaign  in  the  cause  of  missions,  recom- 
mend the  support  of  the  following  policy : 

I.  The  carrying  out  of  all  the  Disciplin- 
ary provisions  relative  to  missions,  both  in 
the  Church  and  Smiday  school,  as  per 
99 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

paragraphs  366,  370,  371,  and  374,  and  Ap- 
pendix, paragraph  53,  of  the  DiscipHne. 

2.  That  we  give  greater  prominence,  with 
more  frequency,  to  missionary  subjects  in 
our  pulpit  work,  and  that  we  endeavor  to 
place  missionary  literature  in  every  home. 

3.  That  we  hereby  indorse  the  raising  of 
the  standard  of  giving  until  at  least  an  aver- 
age of  one  dollar  a  member  throughout  the 
Church  has  been  realized. 

4.  That  we  believe  this  great  work  can- 
not be  accomplished  without  laying  plans 
for  a  systematic  campaign,  and  we  pledge 
ourselves  to  inaugurate  and  carry  for- 
ward this  movement  with  earnestness  and 
devotion. 

IV.  Epworth  League  Representatives. 

We,    the    local    and    district    Epworth 
League  officers,  assembled  in  Section  Con- 
ference, heartily  and  unanimously  recom- 
mend and  indorse  the  following  policy : 
100 


The  Policies  Adopted. 

1.  That  the  members  of  the  district  cabi- 
nets and  local  chapters  of  the  Epworth 
League  cooperate  with  the  Young  People's 
Department  of  the  Missionary  Society  in 
the  promotion  of  its  plans. 

2.  That  books  of  the  Forward  Mission 
Study  Courses  be  adopted  and  used. 

3.  That  the  presiding  elders'  districts  be 
divided  into  subdistricts ;  missionary  com- 
mittees to  be  organized  therein  under  the 
supervision  of  the  second  vice  president  of 
the  district ;  and  the  chairmen  of  these  sub- 
districts  to  form  the  missionary  committee 
of  the  district. 

4.  That  an  earnest  effort  be  made  to  se- 
cure an  average  contribution  of  one  dollar 
a  member  for  missions,  one  dollar  being 
the  minimum,  and  "ability  to  give"  the 
maximum. 

5.  That  the  widest  possible  circulation 
be  secured  for  the  Missionary  Campaign 
Libraries. 

lOI 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

6.  That  Epworth  League  conventions 
give  ample  time  for  conferences  on  methods 
of  missionary  work,  and  for  inspirational 
missionary  addresses. 

7.  That  district  cabinets  aim  to  provide 
sufficient  funds  to  enable  their  missionary 
committees  to  carry  on  aggressive  cam- 
paigns by  correspondence  with  local  chap- 
ters, by  distributing  literature,  and  in  meet- 
ing expenses  incurred  in  other  lines  of  work 
whenever  such  expenses  cannot  be  met  by 
local  chapters. 

8.  That  the  principle  of  Christian  stew- 
ardship be  promoted  in  the  local  chapters 
of  the  League  in  accordance  with  the  plans 
set  forth  by  the  central  office  of  the  Ep- 
worth League. 

9.  That  the  Station  Plan  be  adopted,  and 
the  support  of  their  own  missionaries  on  the 
field  be  recommended  for  such  districts  as 
have  been  prepared  for  such  an  enterprise 
by  an  educational  campaign. 

102 


Thf.  PolicuvS  Adopted. 

V.  Sunday  School  Workers. 

We,  the  members  in  attendance  upon  the 
Sunday  School  Section  Conference,  record 
the  following  policy : 

1.  The  Sunday  schools  to  be  organized 
into  missionary  societies  in  accordance  with 
the  Discipline ;  the  Disciplinary  provisions 
for  a  monthly  missionary  program,  monthly 
missionary  collections,  the  distribution  of 
appropriate  literature,  and  the  promotion  of 
missionary  concerts  to  be  put  into  effect ;  at 
least  one  missionary  concert  annually  to  be 
lield  on  Sunday  evening  in  place  of  the  reg- 
ular preaching  service. 

2.  The  Sunday  school  missionary  socie- 
ties to  avail  themselves  of  the  material  that 
is  already  prepared,  such  as  the  regular 
monthly  missionary  program  which  is  pub- 
lished in  the  Sunday  School  Journal  and 
Bible  Student's  Magazine,  supplementary 
material  for  which  appears  in  World-Wide 

103 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

Missio)is,  and  the  missionary  supplies,  pro- 
vided through  the  Rindge  Literature  De- 
partment of  the  Missionary  Society. 

3.  The  Missionary  Campaign  Libraries 
to  be  introduced  into  every  Sunday  school, 
and  a  children's  missionary  library  provided. 

4.  The  best  efforts  to  be  used  to  bring  the 
missionary  contributions  of  the  Sunday 
school  to  the  standard  of  one  dollar  a 
member  as  the  minimum ;  ability  to  give, 
the  maximum. 

5.  The  sentiment  to  be  encouraged  in  fa- 
vor of  the  payment  of  all  Sunday  school 
expenses  from  the  budget  of  the  local 
church,  thus  releasing  all  Sunday  school 
collections  for  the  missionary  cause. 

VL  Laymen. 

We,  the  laymen  assembled  in  the  Lay- 
men's Section  Conference,  hereby  pledge 
ourselves  to  carry  out  the  following  policy : 

I.  We  recognize  the  importance  of  mak- 
104 


The  Policies  Adopted. 

ing  our  Church  a  missionary  Church,  and 
that  the  spirit  of  conquest  for  our  Lord 
must  take  possession  of  the  souls  and  Hves 
of  our  laity  if  we  fulfill  the  commission  he 
left  with  his  disciples  when  he  said,  "Go  ye 
therefore,  and  teach  all  nations ;"  and  hav- 
ing realized  the  importance  of  these  things, 
we  will  do  our  utmost  to  implant  this 
spirit  in  the  hearts  of  our  fellow-members 
throughout  the  local  churches  to  which  we 
belong  and  throughout  our  land. 

2.  It  shall  be  our  constant  endeavor  to 
raise  the  standard  of  our  obligation  to  God 
in  Christian  giving.  We  will  not  rest  until 
the  local  churches  to  which  we  belong  ad- 
vance in  their  gifts  to  missions,  until  at  least 
one  dollar  a  member  is  given  each  year  in 
offerings  to  the  cause  of  missions,  and  until 
our  full  responsibility  has  been  reached. 

3.  We  will  do  our  utmost  to  see  that  the 
Disciplinary  provisions  have  been  faithfully 
carried  out  in  all  our  societies. 

105 


The  Missionary  Workshop. 

4.  We  recognize  the  importance  of  sys- 
tematically and  thoroughly  caring  for  every 
responsibility  placed  within  our  hands,  and 
we  will  henceforth  apply  the  same  business 
diligence  in  caring  for  the  cause  of  missions 
in  our  churches  as  we  apply  in  our  every- 
day lives  as  business  men. 

5.  We  recognize  the  great  principle  of 
Christian  stewardship  imposed  upon  us  as 
taught  in  the  Scriptures,  and  will  use  our 
best  endeavor  not  only  to  practice  it  our- 
selves, but  to  inculcate  the  doctrine  in  the 
hearts  of  all  who  profess  to  love  our  Lord. 

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